London
Trump had alerted his millions of followers to three video posts by Britain First, a small group of far-right nationalists whose supporters march in front of mosques with crosses and whose leaders decry what they describe as a takeover of British Christian society by “foreign infidels” who want to impose Islamic law.
The three videos Trump shared were titled “Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches!,” “Muslim destroys a statue of Virgin Mary!” and “Islamist mob pushes teenage boy off roof and beats him to death!”
The videos provide no context. The Netherlands Embassy tweeted to Trump that the video about the “Muslim migrant” had been mischaracterized: “Facts do matter. The perpetrator of the violent act in this video was born and raised in the Netherlands. He received and completed his sentence under Dutch law.”
The embassy did not reveal his religion.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended Trump’s post as evidence he wants to “promote strong borders and strong national security.”
“Whether it’s a real video, the threat is real, and that is what the president is talking about,” Sanders told reporters.
Trump retweeted an item from Jayda Fransen, 31, deputy leader of Britain First, who in an interview with The Washington Post expressed gratitude for what she said was Trump’s endorsement of her and her group.
“The British establishment no longer supports free speech, but the president of the United States, Donald Trump, clearly does, and that’s why he tweeted, as a public display of support for Britain First and its deputy leader,” she said.
Fransen faces a charge of hate speech for remarks she made about Muslims at a recent rally in Belfast and a charge of “religious harassment” for a social-media campaign she waged against several Muslim men convicted in a rape case.
Criticism of the president’s retweets came thick and fast in Britain, drawing in Prime Minister Theresa May, whose office said Trump was “wrong” to promote the videos.
May’s office condemned Britain First for its use of “hateful narratives which peddle lies and stoke tensions.”
The statement continued, “The British people overwhelmingly reject the prejudiced rhetoric of the far-right, which is the antithesis of the values that this country represents — decency, tolerance and respect. It is wrong for the president to have done this.”
Trump did not apologize or explain. Instead, on Wednesday night he tweeted a response directly to the British prime minister: “@Theresa_May, don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine!”
British leaders across the political spectrum said they were amazed and appalled by Trump’s tweets endorsing a group that usually draws just a few dozen supporters to its rallies.
Some said Trump was trying to legitimize the far right in Britain, while others were so flabbergasted that that they wondered whether he was perhaps either naive or ignorant.
“Britain First is an appalling organization,” Martin Callanan, a Conservative Party politician and government minister, told the BBC.
Referring to Trump, Callanan said: “I can only assume he has made a mistake and that he didn’t realize who Britain First were.”
Asked about the president’s response to May’s statement, a deputy White House press secretary, Raj Shah, told reporters: “The president has the greatest respect for the British people and for Prime Minister May.”
When a reporter asked why the president was retweeting posts from a far-right, anti-Muslim party condemned by the British leadership, Shah said: “We’re going to be focusing on the issues that are being raised, which is safety and security for the American people.”
He noted that Trump had supported “extreme vetting” of foreigners traveling to the United States and other measures to crack down on possible entry by terrorists.
None of the videos appeared to deal with people traveling to the United States.
Britain First leaders were ecstatic about the recognition from the U.S. president.
“DONALD TRUMP HIMSELF HAS RETWEETED THESE VIDEOS AND HAS AROUND 44 MILLION FOLLOWERS! GOD BLESS YOU TRUMP!” Fransen tweeted.