Home National UK government calls Trump's unhinged ranting 'utterly ridiculous'
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
UK government calls Trump's unhinged ranting 'utterly ridiculous'
The British government is forced to tell the American president to stop his nonsense. Again.
Once again, a foreign government is publicly calling out Trump for pushing "ridiculous" conspiracy theories online.
On Wednesday, the United Kingdom's spy agency, GCHQ, slammed Trump's lie that President Barack Obama asked them to spy on his presidential campaign.
"The allegations that GCHQ was asked to conduct 'wire tapping' against the then President Elect are nonsense," a spokesperson for the agency told Reuters on Wednesday. "They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored."
The statement came after Trump tweeted the conspiracy theory Wednesday morning, citing the right-wing outlet One American News Network.
"'Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson accuses United Kingdom Intelligence of helping Obama Administration Spy on the 2016 Trump Presidential Campaign.' @OANN WOW!" Trump tweeted. "It is now just a question of time before the truth comes out, and when it does, it will be a beauty!"
This is the second time the British government has had to rebuke Trump for pushing the harebrained idea.
In March 2017, a few months after he was sworn in, the Trump administration had to apologize to the British government after then-press secretary Sean Spicer claimed that GCHQ had worked with the Obama administration to spy on Trump's campaign.
Trump's "source" for the conspiracy theory, then and now, is Larry Johnson, a fringe figure who was best known for pushing the made-up story that a video tape existed of Michelle Obama using the term "whitey" in a derogatory fashion.
Johnson and his brand of conspiracy have become the mainstream on the right in part thanks to Trump, who is a diehard believer in absurd theories. Trump was the main engine behind the phony "birther" conspiracy theory. He also believes in the made-up story that vaccines cause autism and that the Chinese government invented climate change.
The internationally circulated insult against the British government comes just a day after it was announced that Trump would finally be granted a state visit in the UK. The British public, like America, is widely opposed to Trump and has protested his racism and ignorance. Trump had originally been invited for a state visit last year, but the trip was "downgraded" to a "working visit" with Prime Minister Theresa May because of massive opposition and protest from U.K. citizens.
Trump has a habit of inviting public condemnation from foreign government. Just last week, as the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was burning, French officials rebuked Trump's unsolicited advice on Twitter — "Perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out. Must act quickly!" — as "utterly useless."
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
GCHQ
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Former research fellow at Media Matters for America who has been blogging about politics since 2001. Follow him on Twitter @owillis.