London Mayor Sadiq Khan says he doesn’t think it’s “appropriate” for the U.K. government to invite U.S. President Trump for an official state visit due to the president’s politics.
“My views haven’t changed,” Mr. Khan told CNN in an interview Monday. “State visits are different from a normal visit, and at a time when the president of the USA has policies that many in our country disagree with, I am not sure it is appropriate for our government to roll out the red carpet for a state visit.”
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May offered Mr. Trump a state visit during her trip to Washington shortly after his inauguration. According to the White House and Downing Street, that invitation has been open-ended and no exact date had been set, despite reports that it had been postponed due to potential protests in Britain. The White House confirmed last week that the visit isn’t planned until next year.
Mr. Khan, London’s first Muslim mayor and an staunch opponent of Mr. Trump’s travel ban, said he would still meet with the president if given the chance.
“If someone has views that I think can be changed, I am ready to play my role,” he told CNN. “If you somehow think it is not possible to be a Muslim and a proud westerner, I am happy to disabuse you of that idea, whether you are a reporter for CNN or Donald Trump.”
Mr. Khan spoke out against Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign last year and most recently sparred with the president in the aftermath of last month’s terrorist attack at London Bridge. The mayor told Channel 4 News at the time that he didn’t think a state visit would be appropriate.
Liberal British commentator and former CNN host Piers Morgan wrote an editorial Tuesday calling Mr. Khan a “shameless hypocrite” and his comments about Mr. Trump “pathetically graceless.”
“Britain has rolled out the red carpet for all manner of despots and tyrants in modern times, from Putin to Assad and Middle Eastern leaders like the King of Saudi Arabia and the Emir of Kuwait,” Mr. Morgan wrote. “I don’t recall seeing Sadiq Khan leading any furious protests to stop THOSE visits happening. But he apparently views Donald Trump as worse than any of them, a man worthy of special vindictive attention.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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