Britain’s newest diplomat has refused to backtrack on previous comments in which he branded Donald Trump a “sociopath with neo-Nazi sympathies”, despite the fact that he is likely to have to negotiate with the front-runner in this year’s presidential election.
David Lammy, the left-wing Labour MP from Tottenham who is now Sir Keir Starmer’s foreign secretary, was asked on Thursday about his previous harsh criticism of the former US president and presidential candidate.
For example, in 2018, Rep. Lammy wrote about Trump while he was a member of the House of Representatives: “Trump is not just a misogynist, neo-Nazi-sympathizing sociopath. He also poses a serious threat to the international order that has long been the bedrock of Western development.”
On Wednesday, the foreign minister refused to retract his remarks or offer an apology over his controversial comments about the US leader. tell Sky News: “You’d be hard pressed to find a politician who didn’t have something to say about Donald Trump at the time.”
He told BBC Breakfast that Trump had “the thickest skin”, adding: “Donald Trump is in many ways the greatest politician walking the planet at the moment.”
Asked whether his comments put at risk the “special relationship” between the US and Britain, Britain’s top diplomat Said“A lot of people have things to say, but there are a lot of common objectives where the UK can work with the US in our common interests, with the central challenge of security in the international community, with the war in the Middle East, the war in Europe and the huge challenge of the cost of living around the world. And we’re going to do that no matter who’s in the White House.”
“Donald Trump has the thickest skin.”
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: #BBCBreakfast Regarding previous comments about the former U.S. presidenthttps://t.co/DhfeTWehhv pic.twitter.com/GwMjNoF8hy
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) July 18, 2024
Lammy continued: “There’s a lot of rhetoric, but look at the actions. He was the first to deliver Javelins to Ukraine after 2015. He talked about withdrawing from NATO and then actually built up forces in NATO.”
“So in the adult world, in the national interest of this country, if the American people elect Donald Trump as president, then of course we will work as closely with him as we can and try to influence him where we have differences of opinion.”
Mr Lammy has been trying to build relationships with US Republicans, including Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, who was picked this week by Donald Trump as his running mate.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Said On Wednesday, he said he could find “common ground” with Vance, noting that they both grew up in poor backgrounds.
“I’ve met him a few times and we have something in common, we come from working-class backgrounds with addiction issues in our families,” Ramey said. “We’ve written books about it and we’ve talked about it. We’re both Christians, so I think I’ll find common ground with J.D. Vance.”
Comments made by Vance this week before he was chosen as the vice presidential candidate also caused a stir in the UK. Hillbilly Elegy Speaking at the National Conservative Conference in Washington, the author joked that if Labour won the general election, Britain could become the first Muslim country to acquire nuclear weapons.
Mr Lammy said he was “not aware” that these comments were true.
Team of Idiots: Introducing Keir Starmer’s Trump-hating, anti-Brexit Cabinethttps://t.co/uRqMQjxVb4
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) July 6, 2024
