President Trump buzzed into London while firing off a volley of tweets at Mayor Sadiq Khan's expense. I'm glad he did.
Khan's approval ratings have been sinking, and rightly so given his terrible tenure in London.
Unfortunately, due to London's voter demographics as well as the poor offerings from the Conservative Party, he is likely to be re-elected in 2020.
And that's exactly how Khan probably feels about Trump too.
No wonder the two men hate each other so much. They're actually in pretty similar positions: benefitting from poor opposition, and determined to stamp their marks on history.
There can be no doubting Khan's aspirations. He wants to be Prime Minister. So Britons ought to be grateful Trump is assailing him now, since our own political parties and representatives are failing to. Without pushback, he's a dead cert as a Labour Party leader post Corbyn.
And there's plenty to assail Khan on. But somehow the Conservative Party's mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey ends up saying stupid things instead. It's also far too quixotic to countenance a Brexit Party mayor of London. It is a mostly Remain-dominated city. Six out of eight Members of the European Parliament just elected in London were anti-Brexit.
So it falls to Trump to call out Khan.
His tweets – borne surely out of personal animosity to Khan – are, as ever, designed to humiliate.
Trump is especially prickly about how hard done by he's been in his first term.
Khan triggered the episode by penning a garbled op-ed for the Observer newspaper – the Guardian's Sunday, sister paper.
Amongst the charges laid at Trump's feet: the false narrative about Charlottesville, lies about his immigration policy, and the conflation with dictators.
The latter would have needled Trump especially, given his administration's hamstrungness during the Mueller investigation. No dictator would have suffered that, nor would it ever have happened. Trump is especially prickly about how hard done by he's been during his first term.
Khan's article was otherwise boring, except for the hilarious moment he referred to America as his "best friend":
"America is like a best friend, and with a best friend you have a responsibility to be direct and honest when you believe they are making a mistake."
If America is indeed Khan's "best friend", it is a best friend who has scarcely heard of him.
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Trump lands in London (White House/Flickr)[/caption]
He might be popular in midtown Manhattan – though in hitching his wagon to the failing Bill de Blasio that won't last either - but the rest of the nation isn't particularly interested in the views of the diminutive mayor.
The icing on Khan's cake is a new video released by his office in conjunction with the women's magazine Elle, wherein Khan declares himself a feminist and demands Trump approve of abortions.
Khan clearly has no idea about states rights in the U.S., nor the will of the people who have passed the recent, admittedly controversial anti-abortion laws. And nor does Khan have an idea of what sorts of people are getting abortions and why. He's just virtue-signalling on a matter he thinks will make him "cool" and "woke".
If you can stand to watch it, here's the newly released video:
And this is from a man who once pretended to be "too busy" to respond to President Trump's barbs.
I hardly believe the job of Mayor of London got really easy in the past year, or that Khan fulfilled all his manifesto pledges. So what changed?
Khan's popularity changed, that's what.
The "stone cold loser" Mayor knows he's got an election to fight next year, and given his record he has been silent of late. Basically in hiding.
For Khan, it is all electioneering. He wouldn't go into one of London's Muslim neighborhoods and start demanding abortions.
He's also cautiously watching to see how long the Labour Party will countenance Corbyn, who keeps losing elections he should be winning. For Khan, it is all electioneering. He wouldn't go into one of London's Muslim neighborhoods and start demanding abortions. It's a show, for him.
Trump is used to people trying to use his name to make money or gain infamy.
Whether it is the Krassenstein brothers, Michael Wolff, or even some of his own staff who he's been aggrieved at for trading off his name, he finds this particularly in poor taste.
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Khan and Bloomberg in London (Flickr/CC)[/caption]
But Khan needs Trump just like CNN and the New York Times do.
Trump is right. He's a loser with a losing record.
Violent crime in London is at all time highs. Traffic and congestion in the capital is horrendous. The Tube is creaking. Massive public projects like Crossrail are delayed and over budget. Homelessness is rife.
London, as I have remarked previously, is turning into a shithole under Sadiq Khan. And he knows it.
Raheem Kassam is the editor in chief of HumanEvents.com
