London Mayor Sadiq Khan has warned Americans against re-electing former President Trump.
"What I’d say in a respectful way to Americans is: I don’t think you realize that the rest of the world is watching because we’ve got skin in the game," Khan reportedly said in an interview with Politico.
"What happens in America is the metronome… that sets the beat of what happens across the globe," Khan, who is in his third term as mayor of London, told the outlet while in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly. "It sets the beat for how other politicians behave in an election campaign."
Khan, a left-leaning Labour Party member, claimed that Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate accords, efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, and rhetoric about women and immigrants are dangerous, according to Politico. He encouraged Americans to consider Trump's first term.
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Compared to other United Kingdom leaders, such as Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Politico said Khan could more boldly support Vice President Kamala Harris as president of the United States. Starmer became the first Labour Party member to address their annual conference as prime minister in 15 years this week, the Washington Post reported. His speech referenced a need for "joy" – a catchphrase promoted by the Harris campaign.
Khan, who has been engaged in public feuds with Trump in the past and has outwardly called the Republican presidential nominee a racist, a sexist and a homophobe, categorized the upcoming American election as one of significant importance. Trump has also been critical of Khan, describing the mayor in 2019 as a "stone cold loser who should focus on crime in London."
"Make sure you’re registered to vote and make sure you vote," Khan told Politico this week. "Because the election that happens on Nov. 5, in my view, is the most important election in my lifetime."
Politico also asked Khan about some of the worst unrest the United Kingdom had seen in years following the mass knife attack in Southport this summer.
The mayor argued that British and American politicians should focus on responding to issues surrounding health care, housing and education, "not to play on people’s fears.'
"The oldest trick in the book is to blame the other," Khan said. "The oldest trick in the book is to pick on one community and one minority, manufacture a situation where they’re blamed for the problems."
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London was gripped with mass protests, arson and rioting in response to three young girls being stabbed to death during a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the Southport neighborhood. Authorities blamed speculation online suggesting the attacker was a migrant Islamic extremist as driving "far-right" protests and violent clashes with the police. Nearly 1,000 people were arrested, reports say.
The July 29 knife attack left eight other children and two adults seriously injured. Authorities later identified the assailant as Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, a 17-year-old born in Cardiff to parents from Rwanda, the BBC reported. He is facing three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder.
In the interview, Khan also defended Starmer, who has been mired in controversies in his first three months in office involving accepting donor gifts, slashing winter fuel allowances for retirees and low approval ratings.
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"It has been tough. Of course, it’s tough. Running things is tough, but I’d rather Keir Starmer make those tough calls, tough decisions, to be straight with the British people now, rather than having things being covered up and buried away," Khan told Politico. "And that means sometimes making decisions that in the short term are unpopular, but leading to medium-term, long-term benefits."
