U.S. President Donald Trump's official Twitter account retweeted a series of inflammatory anti-Muslim videos Wednesday originally posted by the deputy leader of a fringe British far-right group.
The three videos were previously tweeted by Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen, who was convicted by a U.K. court in November 2016 of religiously aggravated harassment.
The videos were automatically tweeted and retweeted by at least three accounts associated with the group.
Britain First is well known in the U.K. for anti-Islamic outbursts, anti-mosque protests plus street and online provocations.
It has carried out so-called "Christian patrols" in English cities and stormed into mosques.
A tweet on Fransen's account later acknowledged the Trump retweets, adding: "GOD BLESS YOU TRUMP! GOD BLESS AMERICA!"
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) reacted to the retweets, calling them the "clearest endorsement yet from the U.S. president of the far right and their vile anti-Muslim propaganda".
"We hope our prime minister and home secretary will distance the U.K. from Mr. Trump and his comments and will reiterate the government's abhorrence to all forms of extremism," the MCB said in a statement.
Tell MAMA, a group which registers anti-Muslim crimes in the U.K., also reacted to the online action.
- 'UTTERLY APPALLED'
"We are utterly appalled that the president of the United States would retweet Jayda Fransen of far-right group Britain First," Tell MAMA said.
"Today shows how far extremism has moved mainstream," the group added.
A member of the British parliament, Caroline Lucas, accused Trump of retweeting a "convicted British fascist" and called on Prime Minister Theresa May to condemn the posts.
Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn was among those who reacted to the action.
"I hope our government will condemn far-right retweets by Donald Trump," he said, describing them as "abhorrent, dangerous and a threat to our society".
Meanwhile, May said the U.S. president's action was "wrong".
"It is wrong for the President to have done this," an official spokesman quoted May as saying.
Former Conservative chair Sayeeda Warsi also slammed the action.
"Parliamentarians on the right and left of politics are appalled by @realDonaldTrump and his ongoing relationship with far-right bigots," she said.
- 'UNAMBIGUOUS AND UNAPOLOGETIC SUPPORT'
"#Trumps unambiguous and unapologetic support for #BritainFirst is not conducive to the public good and a basis for a ban on all future visits," said Warsi, urging the consideration of a ban against a state visit to the U.K. planned for Trump.
Another lawmaker, David Lammy of Labour, said: "The President of the United States is promoting a fascist, racist, extremist hate group whose leaders have been arrested and convicted.
"He is no ally or friend of ours. @realDonaldTrump you are not welcome in my country and my city," he tweeted.
Brendan Cox, the widower of murdered British MP Jo Cox, reacted too, saying: "Trump has legitimized the far right in his own country, now he's trying to do it in ours."
"Spreading hatred has consequences & the President should be ashamed of himself."
The far-right terrorist Thomas Mair shouted "Britain first" before killing Jo Cox during the EU referendum campaign in 2016.
Britain First is an Islamophobic fascist group founded by former members of the British National Party in 2011.
The group organizes mosque invasions and holds provocative marches in paramilitary uniforms. It even uses an old army jeep in its operations.
Paul Golding, Britain First's leader, and his deputy Jayda Fransen have been arrested numerous times due to their actions and both have also received convictions.
But the White House defended Trump's social media activity by saying Trump's goal in retweeting the videos "is to promote strong borders and strong national security".
"He does endorse a strong national security, and he certainly endorses strong borders, which is something that he's talked about repeatedly," spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters. "Both Theresa May and a lot of the other world leaders across the world know that these are real threats that we have to talk about."
And for a White House that has consistently voiced concern over what it terms "fake news", Sanders did not appear to have any qualms with whether or not the videos were authentic.
"Whether it's a real video, the threat is real," she said.
Trump's retweet did garner some support.
David Duke, a white supremacist and former Ku Klux Klan leader, gladly welcomed the posts, saying "This is why WE LOVE TRUMP and WHY the FAKE NEWS MEDIA HATES TRUMP".
"He brings to light what the lying, Fake News Media Won't. The truth is the media covers up horrific numbers of racist hate crimes against White people!" he wrote on Twitter.
