Former President Donald Trump claimed that London and Paris have become unrecognizable due to what he referred to as "doors to jihad" being opened in Europe.
The presumptive GOP candidate made the controversial statements without providing any evidence to support his claims while speaking at a campaign rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday, May 2.
During the rally, the New York businessman-turned-GOP leader expressed his concerns about potential actions taken by Joe Biden’s administration to welcome Palestinians with relatives in the United States.
"We’ve seen what happened when Europe opened their doors to jihad," Trump told his supporters at the event. "Look at Paris, look at London — they’re no longer recognizable."
“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,” he continued, repeating, “they are no longer recognizable, 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,” he concluded.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan responded to the former president's comments, telling outlets, "Today is an opportunity to show Donald Trump and my Tory opponent that London will always choose hope over fear and unity over division."
The former president and Khan have heavily criticized each other over the years.
Khan's office permitted anti-Trump activists to fly a blimp of Trump as a crying baby in a diaper during a protest in 2018. The ex-prez responded by attacking the mayor for his "terrible job" handling "terrorism" in the British capital.
The mayor told outlets he would happily meet with the former president to explain "in a respectful, courteous manner where I think he's wrong on a couple of issues."
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The former president's recent comments come amidst the ongoing conflict in Gaza, where over 34,000 Palestinians have lost their lives.
Police across the U.S. have also been removing pro-Palestinian encampments that have been set by students on college campuses across the country.
Trump commented on the ongoing protest, telling every college president to "remove the encampments immediately."
He said, "Vanquish the radicals and take back our campuses for all of the normal students who want a safe place from which to learn."