“A choice of somebody who is trying to divide, not just your communities in America but who is trying to divide America from the rest of the world”.
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He continued: “I’m hoping he’s not the guy that wins”.
Speaking to the worldwide media at City Hall yesterday, Khan revealed that he plans to visit his NY counterpart Bill de Blasio and work with other U.S. mayors in Chicago and Austin to collaborate on policies on housing, air quality and climate change.
Muslim and human rights groups, Trump’s Democratic rivals and many of his Republican presidential opponents condemned the proposal as divisive, counterproductive and contrary to American values.
Khan, the capital’s first Muslim mayor made the comments on Tuesday after the US Presidential candidate hinted that the Londoner would be exempted from his proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States.
He added: “You can be a Parisian mayor and a London mayor and work closely together”.
Khan told Time that he was “confident” Trump would lose, since conservatives tried “those sort of tactics” in London without success.
On Saturday, Sadiq Khan was declared the new mayor of London.
“This isn’t just about me”, Khan responded to Trump.
“Our message to Donald Trump is this is how you work together. My signing in ceremony was deliberately created to show the sort of a mayor I’ll be and I started as I mean to go on”, Khan said.
Considering Trump’s friendly relations with highly affluent Middle East businessmen and his lucrative dealings with them, it’s obvious if Muslims want the GOP front-runner to like them, they have to be making big bucks.
But while London elected Khan to office, the mayoral race came with Islamophobic yammer from the opposition similar to Trump’s allegations. When Western leaders propose things like barring Muslims from entering their countries, it helps reinforce this narrative.
“I want to go to America to meet with and engage with American mayors”, he told Time magazine.
“I’m the father of two daughters. And so you know, as the mayor of London, I’ll speak to, within reason, anyone if it’s in the best interest of our country”, he said. He said the United States needs to be protected against terror attacks.
“Not any woman, a woman with the gravitas, with the experience… she’ll be an inspiration”, he continued.
“Of course, I’ll travel to America”.
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“I’ve never hidden the fact that I’m a Muslim”.
