Donald Trump has said that British “culture” had been eroded by jihadis and pledged not to let that happen in the United States.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday (1), the Republican presidential candidate remarked that London has become “unrecognisable” because it has “opened its doors to jihad”.
Trump attacked the pro-Palestinian protesters who have staged demonstrations on campuses across the US in the last two weeks.
Students have rallied or camped out in recent days to oppose Israel's war in Gaza, demanding institutions stop doing business with companies that support the war.
“We’ve seen what happened when Europe opened their doors to jihad,” he told supporters. “Look at Paris, look at London - they’re no longer recognisable.
“And I’m going get myself into a lot of trouble with the folks in Paris and the folks in London, but you know what, that’s the fact.
“They are no longer recognisable and we can’t let that happen to our country.
“We have incredible culture, tradition - nothing wrong with their culture, their tradition - we can’t let that happen here and I’ll never let it happen to the United States of America.”
His comments came after police in New York and Los Angeles intervened to break up protests at Columbia University and UCLA.
Trump on Wednesday praised police officers for their raids and called the demonstrators "raging lunatics" and remarked that Biden was "nowhere to be found."
He urged university bosses to take a zero-tolerance attitude to the protesters. Republicans are accusing Democrats of supporting "antisemitism" and “pro-terror protesters”.
While he was president, Trump claimed the streets of London and Paris were unsafe and defended his plans to curb the entry of Muslims into the United States.
Lord Cameron, who was then prime minister, and Boris Johnson, then serving as Mayor of London, had condemned his remarks.
When a car crashed into the gates of Parliament in 2018, Trump had called it a terrorist attack in his tweet.
Trump's latest comments came on the eve of the London mayoral elections and he had many run-ins with Sadiq Khan in the past.
He had earlier slammed Khan for having done a terrible job in London and being soft on terrorism.
Sadiq Khan told MailOnline, "Today is an opportunity to show Donald Trump and my Tory opponent that London will always choose hope over fear and unity over division."
