David Lammy has defended once describing Donald Trump as a “neo-Nazi sociopath” and “a tyrant in a toupee”.
The foreign secretary was quizzed on his previous comments by Kay Burley on Sky News.
Trump is the bookies’ favourite to return to the White House four years after losing the last US election to Joe Biden.
That means the new Labour government would have to work with him on vital matters such as international security.
Burley said: “I’ve got to ask you about these comments you made about President Trump. Apparently you called him a neo-Nazi sociopath and a tyrant in a toupee. Do you stand by those comments?”
Lammy replied: “Kay, you are going to struggle to find any politician, who didn’t have things to say about Donald Trump back in the day. But today I’m standing here as the UK foreign secretary. You know that I’ve been to Washington DC eight times since becoming shadow foreign secretary and now foreign secretary.
“I meet with Republicans and Democrats, many close to Trump, and we will work with whoever the United States choose to put in the White House and become their next president.”
Asked what he thought about JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, describing the UK as “an Islamist country” now that Labour is in power, Lammy said: “I don’t recognise those comments. We got votes in the election from all corners of the country and all sorts of people.
“But what I would say about JD Vance is we were able to find common ground. We’re both from poor backgrounds, both suffered from addiction issues in our family which we’ve written about, both of us Christians ... we have been able to find common ground and get on.”