Trump’s running mate JD Vance has insulted the UK with his racist ignorance

When the Republicans’ choice for vice-president told a national conference that the UK is a ‘truly Islamist country’, it was more than just an insulting anti-Muslim joke: it has serious diplomatic repercussions, says Baroness Sayeeda Warsi

JD Vance has categorised the UK as the ‘first Islamist country with nuclear weapons’ (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

Let’s start with the basics. The UK and the US have a special relationship. They are our most important ally in the world, and they should be our most trusted ally. And that means that when we agree, we do so very publicly, and when we disagree, we do so behind closed doors. Every aspect of our relationship – from our intelligence sharing to our military cooperation, from our political ties to our diplomatic work – should be done in an environment of mutual respect.

What Donald Trump’s appointment of JD Vance as his running mate for vice-president has done is put that special relationship at risk.

Last week, before he was announced to be running on Trump’s ticket, the Ohio senator gave a speech at the National Conservatism Conference in Washington DC in which he described Britain as the world’s first “truly Islamist country” to have nuclear weapons, thanks to the new Labour government.

The fact Vance can so easily miscategorise the UK in this way, and make such flippant remarks in public, so casually delivered – his shocking line raised a laugh from his audience – tells me that, to this potentially incoming vice-president, the special relationship has become no more than a racist joke. It bodes for really dangerous times ahead.

I’ve been deeply worried about Republican politics for a very long time, in relation to women’s rights and climate change, as well as the wider slide into populism. Just as chilling is Vance’s refusal to accept the 2020 election result. He has said that, “if I had been vice-president, I would’ve told the states like Pennsylvania, Georgia and so many others, that we needed to have multiple slates of electors. I think the US Congress should’ve fought over it from there.”

That Vance still casts doubt over the last US election, that he would have happily kept on fighting the outcome, tells me he is somebody who questions the very essence of democracy, and that he would be prepared, fundamentally, to challenge it. I believe he is somebody who likely supports the sentiment behind the January 6 Capitol riots.

Like Trump, Vance has questioned America’s continued support for Ukraine. He has also raised concerns about what the UK would consider to be Nato’s military and intelligence priorities. And now he has made an outright direct attack on the British government, too.

I used to think that this kind of everyday racism displayed by Vance was the remit of crackpots in the extremes of the far right, those who believe in the Eurabian conspiracy theory which says that Muslims are intent on “taking over”. The fact this concept has now been mainstreamed by a man who would be the US vice-president could make life difficult for the Labour government.

The fact that both Keir Starmer and his foreign secretary David Lammy have been cautious in their response, placing the relationship between the two nations over and above the individuals, saying that they will work with whoever ends up in the White House, is the correct, diplomatic response – and it is to their credit.

But this isn’t just political, it’s personal, too. It’s another reminder that casual Islamophobia has become part and parcel of our everyday politics. It sends out their message that Muslims are fair game and makes us feel insecure in our home countries.

For a while now, many of my Muslim friends and family have been thinking about their plan Bs – their exit routes. This rhetoric coming out of the US further reinforces the fear and makes us feel like Muslims don’t matter.

It is clear to me that, with a Trump-Vance White House, the world could no longer rely on the United States to be sane and sensible – or even liberal. Britain will soon have to start looking beyond it. The sooner we start rebuilding our relationship with Europe, the better.

Baroness Warsi is a former co-chair of the Conservative Party