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Trump Shares Inflammatory Anti-Muslim Videos Trump Shares Inflammatory Anti-Muslim Videos
(about 1 hour later)
WASHINGTON — President Trump shared videos supposedly portraying Muslims committing acts of violence on Twitter early Wednesday morning, images that are likely to fuel anti-Islam sentiments popular among the president’s political base in the United States.WASHINGTON — President Trump shared videos supposedly portraying Muslims committing acts of violence on Twitter early Wednesday morning, images that are likely to fuel anti-Islam sentiments popular among the president’s political base in the United States.
The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the videos. Mr. Trump also took a shot at CNN and praised his administration for a strong stock market in other Twitter posts Wednesday morning.The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the videos. Mr. Trump also took a shot at CNN and praised his administration for a strong stock market in other Twitter posts Wednesday morning.
Mr. Trump retweeted the video posts from an ultranationalist British party leader, Jayda Fransen, who has previously been charged in the United Kingdom with “religious aggravated harassment,” according to news reports. The videos were titled: “Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches!” “Muslim Destroys a Statue of Virgin Mary!” and “Islamist mob pushes teenage boy off roof and beats him to death!”Mr. Trump retweeted the video posts from an ultranationalist British party leader, Jayda Fransen, who has previously been charged in the United Kingdom with “religious aggravated harassment,” according to news reports. The videos were titled: “Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches!” “Muslim Destroys a Statue of Virgin Mary!” and “Islamist mob pushes teenage boy off roof and beats him to death!”
It is unusual to see an American president push out this type of content on such a powerful social media platform. But the videos are consistent with how Mr. Trump has approached Islam, particularly during the campaign, when he said, "Islam hates us” during the 2016 presidential campaign and called for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims coming to the United States.It is unusual to see an American president push out this type of content on such a powerful social media platform. But the videos are consistent with how Mr. Trump has approached Islam, particularly during the campaign, when he said, "Islam hates us” during the 2016 presidential campaign and called for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims coming to the United States.
It was unclear on Wednesday morning whether the perpetrators in the videos were Muslim, as Ms. Fransen suggested.It was unclear on Wednesday morning whether the perpetrators in the videos were Muslim, as Ms. Fransen suggested.
Ms. Fransen is the deputy of the far-right party Britain First. The charges against her accuse her of using “threatening, abusing or insulting words or behavior” in speeches and leaflets at events in September and November in three cities in England. Ms. Fransen is the deputy of the far-right party Britain First, which was co-founded by a man who later supported Mr. Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign and was part of the efforts to spread anti-Clinton news on social media.
The charges against Ms. Fransen accuse her of using “threatening, abusing or insulting words or behavior” in speeches and leaflets at events in this fall in England.
Ms. Fransen thanked Mr. Trump for promoting her message in a Twitter post on Wednesday.Ms. Fransen thanked Mr. Trump for promoting her message in a Twitter post on Wednesday.
A conservative commentator, Ann Coulter, on Tuesday also retweeted the video purporting to show a Muslim migrant beating a Dutch boy. The official Twitter account of Britain First also wrote to its more than 24,000 followers on Wednesday morning about Mr. Trump’s tweets.
“Donald Trump has just retweeted Britain First’s deputy leader Jayda Fransen THREE times,” the group wrote.
Britain First is a far-right nationalist group that promotes anti-immigrant sentiments and uses hateful rhetoric about Islam, according to the British anti-racism watchdog Hope Not Hate.
One of Britain First’s co-founders, James Dowson, has been linked to websites that appeared during the 2016 presidential campaign and spread pro-Trump hoaxes and the same sort of virulent anti-Muslim videos that Mr. Trump shared Wednesday. Mr. Dowson left the group in 2014, according to Hope Not Hate. But he is still involved in far right causes.
James R. Clapper, the former director of national intelligence, said he was disturbed by the president’s tweets in part because friends and allies of the United States may begin to question why Mr. Trump would amplify those sentiments.
“So it has all kinds of ripple affects, both in terms of perhaps inciting or encouraging anti-Muslim violence, and as well causes, I think, our friends and allies around the world to wonder about the judgment of the president of the United States,” Mr. Clapper told CNN on Wednesday.