London Mayor Sadiq Khan responded to Donald Trump Jr.’s trolling tweet by saying he had more pressing matters on his mind a day after his city was rocked by a terror attack.
President Trump’s oldest son on Wednesday tweeted: “You have to be kidding me?!” in response to Khan’s assertion last year that terror strikes are “part and parcel” of living in a major city.
“I’m not going to respond to a tweet from Donald Trump Jr.,” Khan told CNN on Thursday. “I’ve been doing far more important things over the last 24 hours.”
Trump Jr. had twisted several comments the mayor made six months ago to the Evening Standard, following a bomb explosion in Chelsea in Manhattan that left 29 people injured.
“It is a reality I’m afraid that London, New York, other major cities around the world have got to be prepared for these sorts of things. That means being vigilant, having a police force that is in touch with communities, it means the security services being ready, but it also means exchanging ideas and best practice,” said Khan, who has called the president’s stance on Muslims “ignorant.”
Trump Jr., who manages the Trump Organization, has no official role in the White House, but sporadically calls out his father’s political opponents on Twitter.
Twitter users assailed Trump Jr. over his poorly timed missive.
Wes Streeting — a Labour Party colleague of Khan — called Trump Jr. a “disgrace” for capitalizing on the attack for “political gain.”
“You use a terrorist attack on our city to attack London’s Mayor for your own political gain,” he wrote. “You’re a disgrace.”