Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

London Mayor Slaps 'The Donald' In Chicago Appearance Near Trump Tower

By Ted Cox | September 16, 2016 11:42am | Updated on September 19, 2016 8:50am
 Taking a shot at Donald Trump, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he came to Chicago to visit Mayor Rahm Emanuel
Taking a shot at Donald Trump, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he came to Chicago to visit Mayor Rahm Emanuel "to build bridges, not walls."
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Ted Cox

DOWNTOWN — Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his London counterpart Sadiq Khan stressed their friendship across national and religious divides Friday as they toured Chicago and signed a pact on sharing technology and business interests.

"Don't think it's not being noticed around the world," Emanuel said. "You have a Jewish mayor and a Muslim mayor."

Emanuel added, "I think that's a tremendous statement in a world that wants to exacerbate differences." 

Emanuel is Chicago's first Jewish mayor, and Khan is London's first Muslim mayor.

Speaking with Emanuel across the Chicago River from Trump Tower, Khan took shots at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, a day after he heartily endorsed his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton in a speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

 Mayor Rahm Emanuel led London Mayor Sadiq Khan through Chicago while signing a pact between the two cities on technology and business.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, London Mayor Sadiq Khan
View Full Caption

Khan said Trump is "playing into the hands of so-called ISIS" by proposing a ban on Muslim immigrants, which suggests that Muslims can't be mainstream and modern.

"I came to build bridges, not walls," Khan said, emphasizing that he had brought along 30 British entrepreneurs on a trip that saw him sign a pact with Emanuel on sharing technology and business contacts between the two global cities.

On Thursday, Khan told the Chicago Council on Global Affairs that foreigners should stay out of U.S. presidential politics, then quickly added, "I hope the best candidate wins, and I hope she does it with a stomping majority."

Khan said that, as big-city mayors, he and Emanuel have much to learn from one another, and both emphasized how the traditional openness of their cities to immigrants had been a source of strength over the centuries.

Khan, too, wanted to stress how "London is open," even after the recent "Brexit" vote on Britain leaving the European Union.

"You have in Chicago a mayor of Jewish faith. We have in London a mayor of Islamic faith," Khan said. "Our friendship is a message that is bigger than the Brexit vote."

Khan was unsparing in his criticism of Trump.

"There's a rumor circulating that one of the reasons I was keen to come to America before January was because I might not be allowed after January," Khan said, making reference to Trump's proposed Muslim immigrant ban. "What's important is that we have shown — in London, in America and elsewhere — that to be a Western Muslim and hold Western liberal values, it is not incompatible to be a Westerner and a Muslim.

"By saying it's incompatible to be Western and a Muslim, you're playing into the hands of so-called ISIS," he added, pointing to the Islamic extremist group causing military chaos in Syria and Iraq while launching terrorist raids on Europe. "When they hate the West, they hate me, and I'm here to build bridges, not walls."

After taking Khan to the Green Mill jazz club Thursday night after his speech, Emanuel took Khan on a brief boat tour down the Chicago River to start the day Friday, and the two held a news conference on the Riverwalk. They then went to the 1871 technology incubator at the Merchandise Mart to sign the business pact between the two cities.

Emanuel said he planned to take Khan to his temple on Saturday, adding, "It took a Muslim to get me to go to synagogue."