A Scottish Labour MP has invited Donald Trump to his mother’s island home. Labour’s Torcuil Crichton extended the offer to the US President-elect in a Christmas card.
Trump’s late mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, came from the Isle of Lewis. The Western Isles MP said both he and Trump are “sons of Lewis” so it was “an appropriate Christmas gesture to invite him home.”
Controversial businessman Trump was elected as US President for the second time in November with a decisive win over Kamala Harris.
The former Apprentice host incited a riot after losing the 2020 election – in which his supporters stormed the US Capitol – and was criminally convicted for attempting to cover up a payment to a porn star earlier this year.
During the election campaign he put out dangerous rhetoric which demonised migrants and promised revenge on those he felt had wronged him.
The Scottish Greens said: “It is simply staggering that any Labour MP would even want to meet with a racist, misogynistic conspiracy theorist like Donald Trump let alone inviting him to tour their constituency.”
The 78-year-old – who previously served as president between 2016 and 2020 – will take up office on January 20.
Crichton’s Christmas card to the American captures the moment his own mother, Joan Crichton, congratulated him after winning the seat for Labour in the July general election.
Joan comes from the same Lewis village of Tong as Trump’s mother Mary Anne MacLeod left from in the 1930s to settle in America.
Trump most recently visited the island in 2008 while his mother regularly returned home. Crichton said Trump would get “a warm island welcome” if he visits his ancestral home.
The MP said: “Oceans may separate our political views, but the President and I are both sons of Lewis with mothers from the same village and I thought it might be an appropriate Christmas gesture to invite him home.
“Donald Trump has visited Lewis in the past, most recently in 2008, and his mother, who returned regularly, is fondly remembered. The President of the United States would be sure to get a warm island welcome if he chose to come.”
Crichton added that he chose the post-result photo in his mother’s kitchen as it captured the culmination of a long election campaign. He said his mother could “give Donald Trump some invaluable advice.”
He added: “Every candidate needs a winning team, and my mother played a key role in my election. She’s the most astute politician in our family and she could give Donald Trump some invaluable advice.”
Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said: “It is simply staggering that any Labour MP would even want to meet with a racist, misogynistic conspiracy theorist like Donald Trump let alone inviting him to tour their constituency.
“This is a man who has tried to overturn an election, ban all Muslims, tear up environmental protections and remove a women’s right to choose what she does with her own body. He is not welcome and nor are his views.
“The politics of Donald Trump could not be more different from the principles that the Labour Party is supposed to represent. The last thing they should be doing is offering to play host to him.
“Donald Trump in the White House is not just bad news for people in the US, it is bad news for our world. The Labour Party should he standing up to him, not rolling out the red carpet for him.”
Trump discussed his mother coming from Scotland on a podcast during the election campaign. He said she “was a Stornoway” and that the Hebrides are “really serious Scottish.”
He said: “My mother was great. She was a Stornoway. The Hebrides. That’s, you know, that’s really serious Scottish.
He added: “The Scottish people, they’re tough people. They’re good people. Actually, they’re very great people. But they’re good fighters.”
Trump has been a fairly regular visitor to mainland Scotland over the years as he owns two Scottish golf courses – in Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire.
He also said he hopes Scotland “stays together” with the rest of the UK. He said: You know, they tried to break up Scotland from the rest of the empire, so to speak. And it made it by about like a half a point. They kept it together. So I hope it stays together. I hope it always stays together.”
Trump’s re-election has caused concerns among British businesses because he has promised to implement tariffs of up to 20 per cent on all imports.
This has worried the Scotch whisky industry in particular as it could be hit by the hike in taxes. The US imported $1.2 billion of Scotch whisky last year.
A 25 per cent tariff on Single Malt Scotch Whisky was levied for 18 months in Trump’s first term with the Scotch Whisky industry losing over £600m in exports to the US.
SNP First Minister John Swinney has recognised the issue, raising “the importance of the US market for Scottish exports” during a phone call with Trump.
Swinney raised eyebrows when he endorsed Democratic candidate Harris ahead of the US election in a move which was branded an “insult” by Trump’s Scottish business. But he has since said it would be his duty to meet Trump if he comes to Scotland.
Trump’s foreign policy has also worried Europeans as he does not want to support the Ukrainians in their war against Russia and has spoken of his admiration for Russian president Vladimir Putin.
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