Trump accuses U.K. Labour Party, Starmer of election interference to boost Harris
Former President Donald Trump accused Keir Starmer's British Labour Party of illegally assisting Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the election Nov. 5.
LONDON — Evoking the Battle of Yorktown and misspelling the word Britain, former President Donald Trump issued a remarkable legal complaint against the United Kingdom’s ruling Labour Party late Tuesday, accusing it of “blatant foreign interference” in the U.S. election in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump’s team asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate after a senior Labour figure posted a rallying cry for current and former staffers to travel to battleground states and campaign for Harris ahead of the Nov. 5 vote.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Wednesday his party had done nothing wrong. Party members often travel to the United States ahead of elections to help out their Democratic bedfellows, he said, but added that this was voluntary rather than party-led, and therefore does not contravene American election law.
Nevertheless, if the FEC agrees with Trump — that Labour and Harris are guilty of flouting foreign interference rules — the agency could issue big fines.
Either way, if Trump wins next month the filing paves the way for a deeply awkward start to the partnership with Britain’s Labour — who he described as “far left” despite the party's notably centrist shift in recent years. It would also appear to signal he has no plans to soften the bruising and norm-busting treatment he meted out to Washington’s closest allies during his first term.
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