Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, renewed his ongoing feud with President Donald Trump on Sunday by ridiculing the U.S. leader for golfing as Hurricane Dorian threatened several American states.
Trump pulled out of a two-day visit to Poland to commemorate the anniversary of the beginning of World War II this weekend to deal with Hurricane Dorian, which reached Category 5 strength on Sunday but has since been downgraded to a Category 4.
The president traveled by helicopter from Camp David to his private Virginia golf club for several hours on Saturday, according to AP. Trump reportedly returned to Camp David later that day, where experts briefed him on the hurricane.
“He’s clearly busy dealing with a hurricane out on the golf course,” Khan told Politico on Sunday. The London Mayor was among those who traveled to Poland this weekend to attend the commemoration ceremony.
Khan went on to accuse Trump of encouraging hate and violence among racists on the fringes of society. “These people have been inspired by mainstream politicians who subscribe to their point of view,” the London mayor said, Trump “is a guy who amplifies racist tweets; amplifies the tweets of fascists; says things that are deeply objectionable. If I don’t stand up and call that out I think I’m doing a disservice to Londoners who chose me as their mayor.”
Trump and Khan have been trading blows ever since the former took office as President of the United States in 2017. In June, Trump called Khan “nasty” and a “stone cold loser” who has “done a terrible job as Mayor of London.” The U.S. president’s remarks came two days after Khan penned an op-ed for The Guardian, where he condemned Trump for emboldening the far right.
“Trump is just one of the most egregious examples of a growing global threat,” Khan wrote, adding that the U.S. president and various other leaders in Europe “are using the same divisive tropes of the fascists of the 20th century.”
In a statement, Khan’s office fired back at Trump for calling him a “stone cold loser,” by saying that “childish insults” should “be beneath the President of the United States.”
“Sadiq is representing the progressive values of London and our country warning that Donald Trump is the most egregious example of a growing far-right threat around the globe, which is putting at risk the basic values that have defined our liberal democracies for more than 70 years,” Khan’s office added.