Racist attacks on London mayor Sadiq Khan 'spiked 2,000%', fuelled by Donald Trump presidency

"During those four years he [Trump] was president, that led to me having to receive police protection," Sadiq Khan said

Online racist attacks on Sadiq Khan spiked by 2,000% following Donald Trump’s presidential election campaign, the London mayor has revealed. New analysis by City Hall shows Khan has been racially abused by trolls almost a quarter of a million times since becoming mayor.

A Greater London Authority report, Measuring Hate, reveals the trolls frequently linked the mayor to terrorist attacks as well as to Jihadis and Muslim grooming gangs.

Phrases like 'Khanage' and 'Londonistan' were commonly used.

The London mayor told students at California’s Stanford University the abuse led to him being given police protection.

London mayor addresses students at California’s Stanford University

"When I was mayor and the first year Donald Trump became president and he used Twitter and he’s not my biggest fan, that first year the amount of racial abuse I received on social media increased by 2,000%," Sadiq Khan said.

"During those four years he was president, that led to me having to receive police protection. Once he was banned from Twitter, I received the least racial abuse of any time over five years," he added. The mayor spoke as Twitter owner Elon Musk indicated Trump would be allowed to reactivate his Twitter account. He said: "I think those who are in charge of Twitter need to make sure you aren’t seeing messages that are inciting hatred, that are amplifying division."

  • Khan has received at least 233,000 racist messages since his election in 2016, according to the survey

  • The abuse rose almost 2,000% in his first year as mayor, the same year Trump was elected to the White House

  • But when Trump was banned from Twitter, racist messaging dropped by 40%

Trump used Twitter to mock Khan’s response to the June 2017 terror attack at London Bridge which left eight people dead. In one tweet, Trump wrote: "At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor London says there is no reason to be alarmed." A follow-up Tweet used the words: "Pathetic excuse by London mayor Sadiq Khan." It led to an immediate 4,000% surge in racist abuse, according to the GLA analysis.

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