He concluded by praising Khan's leadership, tweeting , "I commend the strong leadership of the @MayorofLondon as he leads the city forward after this heinous attack."

What these tweets did (embarrassingly for the US, a big time ally of the UK), however, was to directly contradict US President Donald Trump's Twitter attack on London's mayor.

Trump, known to take to twitter at very early hours each morning, first used the terrorist attacks to tout his travel ban and even push the courts to reinstate it, took the opportunity to mis-represent what Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London had said after the attacks, "At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is 'no reason to be alarmed!'" Trump tweeted .  Many commentators  pointed out that Trump had taken Khan's words out of context – the mayor said on Sunday that Londoners have "no reason to be alarmed" about the increased police presence in the city in the days following the attack.

"We are all shocked and angry today – but this is our city," Khan tweeted on Sunday. "We will never let these cowards win and we will never be cowed by terrorism."  

Saturday's attack at London Bridge and Borough Market killed seven people and left dozens injured. All three attackers were fatally shot shortly after carrying out the attacks. Police conducted a series of raids following the incidents and arrested 12 people from the East London neighborhood, which is home to many Muslims. The identities of the attackers have not yet been released. 

I commend the strong leadership of the @MayorofLondon as he leads the city forward after this heinous attack. – LLukens 3/3 https://t.co/p4dDZuCpyO
– U.S. Embassy London (@USAinUK) June 4, 2017

Trump’s bluster this time could make his ideological sister, Conservative leader and UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s life difficult.

Kate Maltby is a regular broadcaster and columnist in the United Kingdom, who writes a weekly column on politics and culture for The Financial Times had this to say,

“Executive Order 13769 is headed to the Supreme Court; the President's lawyers are arguing it does not constitute a "travel ban," so the President immediately undermined his own team by labeling it just that on Twitter. (Deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders repeated the phrase "travel ban" at a news conference Monday afternoon.) 

Numerous leaks in recent days claim the President is at odds with most of his senior team, allegedly deliberately countermanding their best advice like an obstreperous toddler. And fired FBI Director James Comey is to testify to a congressional committee later this week. Perhaps it was inevitable that Trump would look for a distraction.
 
His choice of distraction is unfortunate for all of us, British and American. First thing in the morning after Saturday night's killings in London, Trump decided to renew an old fight with Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London. 
 
Khan gets under Trump's skin for the same reason lawyers have been this week: When the President first publicly insulted Khan, earlier this spring, it was in response to his criticism of Executive Order 13769. Back then, Khan was merely the most popular politician in the UK and its most senior elected Muslim.
 
By the time of Trump's latest verbal assault, Khan had become the figurehead of a city in mourning. Not just any city: the capital of one of the United States' most important allies. Imagine if Theresa May, the UK Prime Minister, had responded to last year's homophobic attack in Orlando, Florida, by launching a sustained attack on the policies of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.”
 
Are Trump’s tweets merely in bad taste or downright racist?
 
Read Kate Matby on this here.
 
Matby also saus, “ If Trump meant to damage Sadiq Khan, he's mistaken. Being marked as an enemy by the former "Apprentice" star is about the surest-fire way to cult popularity in Britain short of personally masterminding a One Direction reunion. By contrast, the people Trump will damage are his supposed conservative allies in Britain. Theresa May, the Prime Minister, is reported to be exasperated.
 
“May comes from the Conservative Party, which she is leading in an election campaign against Sadiq Khan's Labour Party. This should make them opponents, but Khan is not the leader of the Labour Party, and has used the unique position of the London mayoralty to assert his independence from both the federal government and his own party leader, Jeremy Corbyn.
 
She adds
 
“This comes at the worst possible time for May. Terror attacks usually result in a spike of support for Conservative parties perceived to prioritize law and order: Saturday's attack, coming only five days ahead of the general election, might still have that effect. But Brits don't like being seen to give in to fear.
 
“Labour leader Corbyn, despite his rocky record of supporting far-left terrorist groups himself, has taken the spike in extremism as an excuse to attack Britain's foreign policy and American alliance. Many are buying it: The easiest way of signaling virtue in post-Tony Blair Britain is still to attack the war in Iraq or the American government.

Follow CNN Opinion.”

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While unable to influence the nation’s foreign or economic policy, Khan will have responsibility for key areas in London, such as transport, housing, policing and the environment. And being directly elected gives the London mayor a personal mandate which no other parliamentarian in Westminster – including those in the cabinet – enjoy.

Khan’s father was one of hundreds of Pakistani men who migrated to Britain in the 1950’s and 1960’s, seeking the UK’s version of the American dream: stable employment, social mobility and opportunities for a better future for themselves and their families. One of eight children, Khan grew up on a council estate in the capital. He went to university to study law and practised as a solicitor in human rights cases before becoming a member of parliament.

Khan’s victory supports what a number of Muslim commentators have argued all along: that having a Muslim mayor could help defeat Islamist ideology, by showing that the West is not anti-Islam – and that Muslims can “make it” there.

Now, at the age of 45, he is mayor of London: the economic and cultural heart of the UK, the largest city in western Europe and one of the most important cities in the world. He is the immigrant success story – for him, the British dream has become a reality.

Race and religion

Khan’s Islamic faith catapulted the city’s mayoral contest into the international limelight, at a time when Muslims are facing growing hostility in the West. In the US, presidential hopeful Donald Trump has said that he will ban Muslims from entering the country; while in Europe, the far right is gaining traction by campaigning on explicitly anti-Muslim platforms.

During the mayoral campaign, Khan’s “Muslimness” was viewed as a liability by some – including members of his own party. His Conservative rival, Zac Goldsmith, accused Khan of sharing platforms with Islamic extremists – the implication was clear: that the public should be wary of his “radical” views. Goldsmith’s highly controversial campaign has been heavily criticised – notably by senior Conservative Andrew Boff – for its divisive “dog-whistle” politics.

Khan’s victory supports what a number of Muslim commentators have argued all along: that having a Muslim mayor could help defeat Islamist ideology, by showing that the West is not anti-Islam – and that Muslims can “make it” there. Khan himself has spoken about the symbolic value of becoming the first Muslim mayor of a city which experienced terrorist attacks in 2005, perpetrated in the name of Islam.

Power and privilege

But Khan’s victory says as much about social mobility as it does about race and religion. Had Khan’s father stayed in Pakistan, it is inconceivable that his son would have succeeded in that country’s political system, where privilege and connections win elections. There, political office is often viewed as the birth right of the elite. Indeed, the UK has educated a great many of Pakistan’s political leaders: Mohammad Ali Jinnah – the founder of Pakistan – studied in England in the late 19th century. And Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was educated at Oxford, went on to serve as both as prime minister and president.

By contrast, many Pakistanis who migrated to the UK in the post-war era were subsistence farmers and manual labourers. In many cases, they were illiterate in their own mother tongue. They took up positions in the service industries of the south, the factories and foundries of the Midlands and the mills of northern England. And while some succeeded in pulling themselves out of poverty, the UK’s Pakistani community still has some of the highest levels of unemployment and underachievement in the UK. Many British Pakistanis live in some of the UK’s most deprived neighbourhoods.

And of course, British politics is also now dominated by an “old boys' network”: the cliques of Etonions and Bullingdon club members, personified by the prime minister, David Cameron, the chancellor, George Osborne – and indeed London’s outgoing mayor, Boris Johnson. Yet the working-class Khan managed to win out against a Conservative rival with family pedigree, wealth and friends in powerful political, media and business circles.

For many, this is a triumph of meritocracy over privilege – a sign that the political establishment is becoming more inclusive and representative of the ethnic, religious and socioeconomic diversity of the wider population. And Khan is not the only second-generation Pakistani to have entered high political office in the UK. Sajid Javid, the current secretary of state for Business, Innovation and Skills, is the son of a Pakistani immigrant who worked in the mills of the north before becoming a bus driver. So too did the father of Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, who rose to become a member of David Cameron’s cabinet, and was the first Muslim woman to sit at the highest table in the land. In the 2015 general election alone, ten individuals of Pakistani heritage were elected to the British parliament.

And now, in London, the son of a Pakistani immigrant bus driver is in charge. He has become Europe’s most powerful Muslim politician. Khan’s victory has shown us that the British dream can become a reality.

(The writer is lecturer in Sociology, University of Bradford, UK).

This story was first published on The Conversation.

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