A TOP cabinet minister today repeatedly evaded addressing whether Donald Trump has “Neo-Nazi sympathies”.
Pat McFadden was asked THREE times whether he would disown jibes by Foreign Secretary David Lammy, accusing the President-elect of being a facist.
Pat McFadden refused to distance himself from jibes made about Donald Trump by Foreign Secretary David Lammy
Tweet from David Lammy posted on July 14, 2018
Tweet from David Lammy posted on April 23, 2019
But the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster sidestepped the question and instead professed to “look forward to working” with the incoming US president.
Asked on LBC whether he personally believes Trump has KKK or neo-Nazi sympathies, Mr McFadden responded: “I think the relationship between Britain and America is really important.”
The cabinet minister dodged the question a two more times before adding: “I don’t want to get into all the characteristics of people… what I think is important is this friendship between the two countries.”
This morning Mr McFadden insisted the Foreign Secretary’s comments won’t “interfere” in the “important alliance” between the UK and US.
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He told Sky News: “I think a lot of things that have been said over the years, but not just here in the UK, including in the US. If you look at what Vice President Elect JD Vance said about President Trump, he mused whether this was going to be another Richard Nixon or America’s Hitler.”
Mr Mcfadden added: “President-elect Trump is a fan of the United Kingdom. His mother came from Scotland.
“And I think in the end, those shared values and interests are more important than some tweet from many years ago.”
Yesterday Mr Lammy congratulated Trump on his sweeping election victory – despite previously blasting him as a “Nazi”.
Mr Lammy said: “We look forward to working with you and JD Vance in the years ahead.”
But striking a very different tone as a backbencher in 2018, he said: “Trump is not only a woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath.
“He is also a profound threat to the international order that has been the foundation of Western progress for so long.”
In 2017 Mr Lammy tweeted: “Yes, if Trump comes to the UK I will be out protesting on the street.
“He is a racist KKK and Nazi sympathiser.”
In July this year Mr Lammy defended his colourful language, insisting most MPs had “things to say about Donald Trump back in the day.”
But the Foreign Secretary has also spent months undertaking secret love-bombing missions with Republican aides.
In desperate damage control operations ahead of the US election, Mr Lammy spoke at Conservative foreign affairs think tanks in Washington and forged ties with fixers close to Trump.
He has also made a particular effort to forge a relationship with JD Vance.
The Foreign Secretary has met the incoming Vice President before and claim the pair have been able to find “common ground”.
In July Mr Lammy said: “We’re both from poor backgrounds, both suffered from addiction issues in our family which we’ve written about… both of us Christians.
“And now I’ve met him on a few occasions, and we have been able to find common ground and get on.”
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