On Wednesday, President Donald Trump began his morning by retweeting a series of inflammatory and misleading videos from a far-right anti-Muslim group called Britain First. Trump’s decision to share the discredited videos — which were meant to cast the recent influx of Muslim migrants as dangerous and violent — was applauded by white supremacists like David Duke, but earned him swift rebukes from officials in the U.K., including even notorious racist Nigel Farage.
But on Thursday, Britain’s parliament went a step further, suggesting on the floor of the House of Commons that Trump should delete his Twitter account altogether.
“One of the advantages of having such a special relationship with the United States is when a friend tells you you’ve done something dreadfully wrong, you tend to listen,” said Conservative Party MP Peter Bone. “And wouldn’t the world be a better place if the prime minister could persuade the president of the United States to delete his Twitter account?” British Home Secretary Amber Rudd echoed the sentiment as well.
WATCH: British lawmakers call on President Trump to delete his Twitter account after he retweeted a far-right group. "Wouldn't the world be a better place?" pic.twitter.com/xMPquu2jJ1
— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 1, 2017
Earlier in the day, British Prime Minister Theresa May condemned Trump’s actions, saying in a statement that “retweeting from Britain First was the wrong thing to do.”
The fallout from Trump’s comments have also reignited calls by the British public and several government officials to ban Trump from entering the U.K., which has strict laws forbidding hate speech. Nearly 2 million people signed a formal petition to Parliament urging the government to rescind its standing invitation to the White House for a formal state visit well before Trump’s latest transgression, and those calls were renewed on Thursday.
“Not only has the commander-in-tweet done this, but he has defended it, publicly chastising the British prime minister for her comments,” said Bradford West MP Naz Shah. “Putting aside the question of a state visit, should he even be allowed to enter our country?”
Stateside, Trump’s tweet elicited fresh calls for Twitter to ban him from its site for clear violations of the company’s own anti-hate policies. Barely a week ago, the social media site put into effect a new set of guidelines meant to crack down more forcefully on users who target minority groups or other protected classes. Trump’s tweet is a clear violation of those guidelines, as Twitter itself seemed to acknowledge.
Twitter on why it didn't delete anti-Muslim tweets: "To help ensure people have an opportunity to see every side of an issue, there may be the rare occasion when we allow controversial content or behavior which may otherwise violate our rules." https://t.co/WXc22NI01i
— CNN International (@cnni) November 30, 2017
For now though, Trump’s account remains active. And whether or not Prime Minister May follows through with parliament’s suggestion, she wouldn’t be the first powerful woman to drop the mic on Donald Trump.
Delete your account. https://t.co/Oa92sncRQY
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 9, 2016