Trump keeps amplifying far-right racist Katie Hopkins, who called for a “final solution” for Muslims
Written by Alex Kaplan
Published
President Donald Trump has repeatedly amplified far-right British commentator Katie Hopkins, including her anti-Muslim tweet attacking the “Mayor of Londonistan.” Hopkins has a long history of xenophobic and bigoted remarks, including calling refugees “cockroaches” and advocating for a “final solution.” Hopkins has also defended and associated with multiple other far-right figures and outlets, including Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, whom she called a “good man.”
Trump has repeatedly amplified Hopkins on Twitter
Trump has amplified Hopkins at least 11 times as president. Since July, Trump has retweeted Hopkins at least eight times and quote tweeted her at least three times. Trump’s retweets of Hopkins have included tweets calling Baltimore a “sh*thole,” attacking a Syrian refugee, and criticizing the “Mayor of Londonistan.” Trump also thanked her for tweeting a video of himself meeting with supporters and cited her to dubiously claim he did not instigate a rally crowd to chant “send her back” aimed at Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN). Hopkins told The New York Times in early August that she believed Trump kept amplifying her because they had “a similar message.”
[Twitter, 7/20/19, 7/20/19, 8/26/19; Twitter, accessed via Trump Twitter Archive, 7/11/19, 7/20/19, 7/20/19, 7/28/19, 8/3/19, 8/3/19, 8/9/19, 8/9/19; The New York Times, 8/7/19]
Hopkins has pushed white genocide conspiracy theory and repeatedly made bigoted remarks
In response to terrorist attacks in the U.K., Hopkins called for mosques closure, internment camps, and a “final solution.” In June 2017, after a terror attack in London, Hopkins tweeted, “Time to fight back for Britain. Incarcerate the 3,000. Deport Imams. Close down mosques. Drain the extremist swamp.” On Fox, she called for “incarcerating, deporting, repeating until we clean this country up” and said, “We do need internment camps.” The previous month, after a bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, Hopkins tweeted, “We need a final solution.” The term “final solution,” as noted by The Washington Post, is a “well-known euphemism used by the Nazis for the genocide of the Jews.” The tweet resulted in Hopkins being dropped by her radio broadcaster.
[Media Matters, 6/4/17, 6/4/17; The Washington Post, 5/24/17; The Guardian, 5/26/17]
Hopkins called refugees “cockroaches.” Hopkins, then a Daily Mail columnist, wrote a 2015 column for The Sun that compared migrants to “cockroaches.” She also wrote: “It’s time to get Australian. Bring on the gunships, force migrants back to their shores and burn the boats.” The U.N. high commissioner for human rights rebuked her for “using racist language and [compared] her comments to pro-genocide propaganda.” [Media Matters, 3/2/17]
Hopkins promoted conspiracy theory about white genocide in South Africa. In 2018, Hopkins said she was traveling to South Africa to expose the “truths that aren’t being told” by mainstream media about the supposed “ethnic cleansing of white farmers.” She also published videos claiming to show evidence of the conspiracy theory. [Media Matters, 3/6/18, 8/23/18]
Hopkins asked “must we give up our culture” after Christchurch mosque attacks and previously claimed that refugees are “reproducing at twice the rate of rabbits on a hot spring day.” After the Christchurch, New Zealand mosque mass shootings in March, Hopkins posted a video on Instagram with the text, “Must we give up our culture? Do we see the same reaction when we are the victims of Islamist attacks?” In 2015, Hopkins wrote a column worrying that refugees were “reproducing at twice the rate of rabbits on a hot spring day.”
[Media Matters, 3/2/17, 4/18/19]
Hopkins claimed Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) was leading the “Islamification” of America. Hopkins posted a video on Instagram accusing Omar of leading the “Islamification” of the U.S. and claimed that immigration was leading to a religious “voting bloc” which is “facilitated by the mosque.” [Media Matters, 4/18/19]
Hopkins on French President Emmanuel Macron’s election celebration: “It took me two or three blocks before I found a woman and found a white person.” Discussing the aftermath of Macron’s election as France’s president in May 2017, Hopkins claimed on Fox News’ Fox & Friends that in Paris, “It took me two or three blocks before I found a woman and found a white person.” She also called the defeat of Macron’s opponent, far-right National Front candidate Marine Le Pen, a “loss for Europe.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 5/8/17]
Hopkins on Instagram criticized “demographic shifts” and “multiculturalism” in British towns with substantial Muslim populations. [Media Matters, 4/18/19]
Hopkins called for racially profiling young Black men in London. During an April 2018 appearance on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight, Hopkins claimed that “young Black men are the guys mostly committing these crimes,” therefore “young Black men can expect to be stopped and searched,” calling it “tough luck.” She added, “Frankly, if it was white conservative women doing the stabbing, I would be happy to be searched every day if it saved a life.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 4/6/18]
Hopkins on assimilation of Muslim immigrants: “You can't take Mohammed, stick a blond wig on him, ... and turn him into a Swede.” During another appearance on Tucker Carlson Tonight that same month, Hopkins said, “You can't take Mohammed, stick a blonde wig on him, and put a name badge that says ‘Ulf,’ and turn him into a Swede. It doesn't work like that.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 4/18/18]
Hopkins claimed refugees in Sweden made “females fear to tread.” In February 2017, Hopkins claimed that a reported outbreak of violence in Sweden allegedly caused by refugees had “terrified women” who “have vanished from the streets” and that “a conspiracy of silence and self-censorship on immigration buries the truth.” Days later, she went on Tucker Carlson Tonight to push the same claim. [Media Matters, 3/2/17]
Hopkins claimed that trans people “cheat the system.” In a series of now-deleted tweets in February 2017, Hopkins attacked a male trans student who won a girls’ high school wrestling championship, which he was forced to compete in rather than the boys’ championship by state athletic rules. Hopkins accused him of “cheat[ing] the system” and also called the teenager a “nasty narcissist” who wanted to “fight girls.” [Media Matters, 3/2/17]
Hopkins has repeatedly shared false stories to push xenophobia. Hopkins has repeatedly shared and created false stories pushing xenophobia, such as tweeting a hoax image of a road sign in England written in Arabic script, falsely accusing two Muslim men visiting the U.S. of having ties to Al Qaeda, and falsely claiming CNN was “scripting a narrative” by staging “a highly manipulated Muslim protest” against ISIS. [Media Matters, 3/2/17, 6/5/17]
Hopkins has multiple ties to far-right figures
Hopkins has advocated for British anti-Muslim extremist Tommy Robinson. In May 2018, Hopkins went on Tucker Carlson Tonight to advocate for Robinson after he was arrested for disrupting a court case. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, founded a far-right street protest group and has repeatedly used anti-Muslim rhetoric. [Media Matters, 7/16/18]
Hopkins joined far-right Canadian outlet Rebel Media. In January 2018, Hopkins joined Rebel Media, a far-right Canadian outlet which used to employ Robinsion and far-right anti-Muslim bigot Laura Loomer. [The Guardian, 1/3/18; Heavy.com, 1/14/19]
Hopkins defended a white nationalist “Pizzagate” conspiracy theorist. In March 2018, Hopkins appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight to defend Brittany Pettibone, a white nationalist who had been banned from entering the U.K. Pettibone also pushed the false “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory. [Media Matters, 3/13/18]
Hopkins has repeatedly appeared on Infowars. Hopkins has repeatedly appeared on the far-right conspiracy theory outlet Infowars to claim immigrants were “snaking their way” through Europe and pushing out “white Christians” and “Christian culture.” She has also called Infowars host Alex Jones, a conspiracy theorist who called the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting a hoax, a “good man.”
[Media Matters, 4/17/18, 3/19/19; Twitter, 6/12/18, 11/13/18, 11/18/18]
Hopkins worked with white nationalist Lauren Southern to target refugees. Southern, a white nationalist known for amplifying the South African white genocide conspiracy theory, tweeted a photo of herself with Hopkins in July 2017, saying they were together to support Defend Europe, a group attempting to stop migrant rescues in the Mediterranean. [Media Matters, 3/16/18, 4/8/19]
Hopkins praised far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s election, writing that she was “bloody loving the rise of the right.” In response to Bolsonaro being elected president of Brazil, Hopkins tweeted about his victory alongside an anti-Muslim image and added that she was “bloody loving the rise of the right.” [Media Matters, 10/29/18]