By sharing jihadi porn, Donald Trump plays into the Islamists’ hands

Britain First hasn’t really taken off as a political movement in Britain, but it has caught the attention of the most powerful man on the planet. Today President Donald J Trump decided to brighten his and everyone else’s morning by retweeting three videos, posted by Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of Britain First, purporting to…

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Britain First hasn’t really taken off as a political movement in Britain, but it has caught the attention of the most powerful man on the planet. Today President Donald J Trump decided to brighten his and everyone else’s morning by retweeting three videos, posted by Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of Britain First, purporting to show Muslims doing horrible things.

One is a video that shows a young thug – ‘a Muslim migrant’, according to Jayda – beating up a boy on crutches, the other shows a Muslim cleric smashing a statue of the Virgin Mary…

Britain First hasn’t really taken off as a political movement in Britain, but it has caught the attention of the most powerful man on the planet. Today President Donald J Trump decided to brighten his and everyone else’s morning by retweeting three videos, posted by Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of Britain First, purporting to show Muslims doing horrible things.

One is a video that shows a young thug – ‘a Muslim migrant’, according to Jayda – beating up a boy on crutches, the other shows a Muslim cleric smashing a statue of the Virgin Mary and saying Takbir, and another shows Isis-types throwing a boy from a roof and then beating him to death.

Everybody is horrified. Jayda is delighted, of course. She has now tweeted:

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, DONALD TRUMP, HAS RETWEETED THREE OF DEPUTY LEADER JAYDA FRANSEN’S TWITTER VIDEOS! DONALD TRUMP HIMSELF HAS RETWEETED THESE VIDEOS AND HAS AROUND 44 MILLION FOLLOWERS! GOD BLESS YOU TRUMP! GOD BLESS AMERICA!

It’s hard not to be touched by Jayda’s gratitude. It’s even harder not to be disgusted. Leave aside that Trump is a Protestant (unlike Jayda who is a Catholic) and Protestantism was in no small part established by maniacs who went about smashing statues of the Virgin Mary.

The real problem is that Donald Trump is the President of the United States of America, and he is indulging – broadcasting, actually — videos which are obscene, juvenile and similar to pornography. The point of them is to say ‘Look, Muslims really are vile’ – and they are effective in that way.

But sharing clips of Muslims doing horrid things is not argument; it is propaganda, since nobody knows the truth behind any of them. Who knows the full context of the disturbing video of the boy beating up that other boy on crutches? You can be sure Donald Trump doesn’t. But he shared it anyway, because it horrifies people and brings out a carnal lust for righteous vengeance. Melania Trump has campaigned about the damaging effects of the internet on children, so it also seems unhelpful for Trump to be tweeting out such material. Millions of young and impressionable people will now see a video of a man being beaten to death. Thanks Donald.

By sharing such horror porn, Trump is playing the Islamist’s game. Islamists do these disgusting stunts because they so horrify us and because we share them, further amplifying their sick cause. As my colleague Douglas Murray, no great lover of Islam, has said, ‘When it comes to jihad porn, abstinence is best.’ Quite. And if you happen to be the US President, you should probably learn to control your appetites for the good of us all.