Jeremy Hunt has drawn widespread condemnation after saying he backed Donald Trump’s attacks on the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

The Foreign Secretary said he agreed ‘150%’ with the ‘sentiment’ behind the US President’s attack on London’s mayor – despite it including the word ‘Londonistan’.

Trump labelled Mr Khan a ‘national disgrace’ following further violence on the streets of the capital and said ‘London needs a new mayor ASAP.’

Two teenagers were murdered within minutes of each other in different parts of the capital on Friday, while a man was stabbed to death on Saturday afternoon.

Trump retweeted a post about the killings by Katie Hopkins, which called the capital ‘Stab-City’, alongside two screenshots of BBC News articles detailing the violence.

She added: ‘This is Khan’s Londonistan’.

When asked specifically about the word ‘Londonistan’, Mr Hunt said ‘I wouldn’t use those words myself’, but did not explicitly condemn the phrase.

The term Londonistan has been widely condemned for being a highly racialised term that was used against Sadiq Khan because of his Pakistani and Muslim heritage.

Mr Hunt’s comment came despite three of his Tory rivals, Sajid Javid, Michael Gove and Dominic Raab, all slamming the President at a hustings for Westminster journalists.

Home Secretary Mr Javid said the comments were ‘unbecoming’ of the President of the United States.

Environment Secretary Mr Gove said: ‘I think it is always a mistake to retweet anything Katie Hopkins tweets.’

Mr Raab said Trump’s comment was not ‘helpful or constructive’, adding: ‘I disagree with a lot of things that Sadiq Khan has said but I’m proud to have a Muslim Mayor of London and a Muslim Home Secretary.’

The Muslim Council of Britain have now also condemned the foreign secretary for his ‘shocking’ comments.

A spokesperson said: ‘When facing Islamophobia, many Muslims are most hurt when others stand by and do nothing.

‘Trump’s endorsement of a bigot has nothing to do with the rising knife crime that we all are concerned about and everything to do with his divisive agenda.

‘For Downing Street to refuse to comment and our Foreign Secretary and potentially future Prime Minister to agree with the ‘sentiment’ of this known Islamophobe, without condemning the clear bigoted intent behind it, is shocking.

‘It is still further proof that Islamophobia is given a free pass at the highest echelons of the Conservative Party.’

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