Trump 'singled out' me because of my faith, London mayor says

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) – London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the outgoing US President Donald Trump "singled out" him during his term in the office for "no other reason than his faith."

"Being a Muslim ain't easy, it isn't easy," Khan said, speaking to the LBC radio on Monday.

"It's never been harder to be a Muslim than the last four years."

Khan said that the world had "for the first time the leader of the free world, a mainstream politician perpetuating a view that Islam and the West are incompatible."

The London mayor said Trump had maintained a view that "all of us [Muslims] must be bad, or must be terrorist because of the actions of a very small minority."

"Let's be frank, the reason I was singled out was not because of any other reason than my faith."

He said this led to Muslims around the world "carrying an additional weight" due to the actions and words of Donald Trump.

Khan also underlined that many across the globe were not happy with the way Donald Trump treated minorities and people who were different to him.

Trump repeatedly insulted Khan on Twitter since his election as the mayor of London in 2016.

"Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his 'no reason to be alarmed' statement," Trump wrote after a statement by the mayor following the 2017 London Bridge terror attack.

"I don't think we should roll out the red carpet to the president of the USA in the circumstances where his policies go against everything we stand for," Khan said after being targeted.

In 2018, Trump exerted his personal attack on Khan, saying that he has done "a bad job on crime, if you look, all of the horrible things going on there, with all of the crime that is being brought in."

The following year he tweeted that Khan is "a national disgrace who is destroying the City of London!"

Khan's remarks came in the Islamophobia Awareness Month, during which the Muslim Council of Britain, the country's biggest Muslim umbrella group, holds events to raise awareness about the anti-Muslim hate crime across the public.

"It is unacceptable for a Muslim politician to be discriminated against because of their faith," The Muslim Council of Britain said on Monday.

"Unfortunately, Islamophobia permeates through all aspects of public life," it said.