President Donald Trump retweeted Wednesday several unverified videos posted by an extreme right British political organization that show Muslims attacking people.
The footage was originally posted by Jayda Fransen, deputy leader of Britain First, a party which opposes immigration, and the videos have been variously termed as inflammatory and anti-Muslim as they they portray Muslims as violent.
The British politician has been convicted of hate speech.
While critics accused President Trump of attempting to stir up anti-Muslim sentiment by sharing videos with millions of his followers, a
White House spokesperson said the president was the threat that migrants pose in Europe.
“These are real threats we have to talk about,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.
“Whether it is a real video, the threat is real,” she said, when journalists raised the question of tweets.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) criticized the tweets, saying they “amount to incitement to violence against American Muslims.”
According to a Voice of America report, British lawmakers reacted strongly to the retweets, which are being seen as elevating the isolated party with extreme views.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s spokesman said Trump was “wrong” to retweet the videos.
“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,” he said.
