Trump retweets Katie Hopkins, 'darling of the right', who described migrants as 'cockroaches'

US President Donald Trump shared a tweet by right-wing English columnist Katie Hopkins in which she praised right-wing and populist leaders.

Hopkins, a controversial British figure who once called migrants "cockroaches", tweeted on Wednesday that she hoped she'd be alive to see Trump, Boris Johson, Benyamin Netanyahu and four other European right-wing leaders in a strong position. 

"God-willing / jihadi-failing I am going to be alive to see Trump in the White House Boris in Number 10 Netanyahu building Israel Bolsanaro, Salvini, Orban, Kaczyński, & the Right Minded bringing strength in depth," Hopkins wrote.

"What a time to be alive," she added, "The fightback by proud nations is on".

The tweet, which got more than 40,000 likes, was retweeted by Trump, drawing outrage and shock from across Twitter.

"Donald Trump retweeted this... am i living in a fever dream??" tweeted one user.  

"Good to know the supposed POTUS is retweeting racist TV personalities. Well done," said another.

Hopkins celebrated four populist European politicians in her tweet: Brazil's president Jair Messias Bolsonaro, Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban and influential Polish politician Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

All have drawn criticism for their controversial right-wing to far-right policies and views, on issues such as migration and LGBT rights.

Kaczynski has labeled the LGBT movement as a "threat", while Bolsonaro has said that he would prefer any gay son of his "to die in an accident".

Salvini opposes same-sex marriage, and under Orban the Hungarian Government blocked a proposed EU agreement to combat discrimination against LGBT people.

Read also: Katie Hopkin's nine most offensive tweets 

Trump earlier retweeted Hopkins in June in an attack on London Mayor Sadiq Khan, attaching his latest denunciation of the mayor to a retweet by Hopkins about crime in "Khan's Londonistan".

Hopkins, who wrote in support of Trump's election campaign during her time at the Daily Mail, has been dogged by numerous allegations of Islamophobia and hate speech during her career as a columnist.

Her description of migrants as "cockroaches" in 2015 prompted a rebuke by former UN High Commissioner for Refugees Zeid Ra'ad Al Husein.

He said Hopkins had used language similar to that employed by some Rwandan media outlets in the run-up to the 1994 genocide, and by the Nazis in the 1930s.

Hopkins was dropped from her columnist position at The Daily Mail, a well as her job as radio host for LBC, for her controversial comments.

After the horrific terror attack in Manchester which saw over 20 killed, Hopkins called for a "final solution", an echo of the Nazi term for the holocaust. Despite quickly changing it to "true solution" it caused widespread public outcry.

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