Khan, a Muslim, and Trump have been engaged in a war of words over the White House hopeful’s proposal that all Muslims be banned from the United States.
“By giving the impression there is a clash of civilizations, are you doing the job of Daesh and extremists for them by saying the West hates Islam,” he said on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Tuesday.
“The vast majority of Muslims are law abiding, peaceful,” Khan said. “I accept there are a small minority of people who do bad things, they are terrorists, they are criminals, using the name of Islam to justify what they do.”
Khan argued that his election as the first Muslim mayor of a major Western capital showed “hope trumps fear” and “unity trumps division.”
“With the greatest respect to Donald Trump, your views on Islam are ignorant,” he said. “Western liberal values and mainstream Islam are compatible.”
In December, Trump called for a “total and complete” ban on Muslims entering the United States after a deadly mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, which was inspired by the ISIS terrorist group.
The proposal triggered widespread criticism and condemnation in the US and around the world.
“His policies would mean Leicester, the Premier League champions, couldn’t take Riyad Mahrez to America. They’d mean Nadiya Hussain, the Great British Bake Off champion, couldn’t go to America,” Khan said.
On the same program Monday, Trump said Khan was “very rude” to have criticized him and challenged him to an IQ test. “I am not stupid,” the billionaire businessman insisted.
“When he won, I wished him well,” Trump said of Khan, who scored a resounding victory over his billionaire Conservative rival earlier this month. “Now I don’t care about him.”
The White House hopeful also warned he may not have a “very good relationship” with David Cameron after the prime minister criticized his Muslim-ban proposal as “stupid.”
“Number one, I’m not stupid, I can tell you that right now, just the opposite. I don’t think I’m a divisive person, I’m a unifier, unlike our president now,” Trump said.
Last week, Khan rejected Trump’s offer that he could be an exception to his proposed ban on all Muslims entering the United States.
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