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Pauline Hanson Went Full Trump After the London Terrorist Attacks

She didn’t express her sympathy for the victims—but she did demand a Muslim ban.

Seven people are dead and more than 48 injured following knife attacks in central London over the weekend. At least three of those injured, we now know, were Australian. And there was one Australian politician—and yeah, you can guess her name—who viewed the tragedy as an opportunity for political gain. While Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn both suspended their election campaigning to honour the victims and their families, Queensland senator Pauline Hanson took to Twitter and demanded Australia put a stop to Muslim immigration.

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Echoing Donald Trump, who didn't express condolences for any of those injured following the attacks near London Bridge and Borough Markets—but did take the opportunity to spruik the United States Muslim travel ban and his anti-gun control stance—Hanson tweeted three times in the aftermath of the London attacks. Her initial response was that "Australia should stop Islamic immigration before it was too late" accompanied by a handy infographic detailing how "Australia refuses to HIDE the fact that terrorism is related to the Islamic teachings of the Quran" and "Australia is tired of Labor, the Greens, and the Liberals RUNNING their campaign that Islam is good for Australia."

Three hours later, Hanson followed up the tweet with a tirade directed at Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. "The people of Britain have been let down by their leaders. It's so frustrating to see leaders like Bill Shorten making the same mistakes." Her third tweet also attacked Shorten and the Labor party in general, holding it responsible for some kind of theoretical immigrant crisis: "Labor started this after Whitlam, Fraser was almost as bad. Rudd & Gillard opened the borders. Bill Shorten made the same mistake."

Quite apart from the fact that Islamic religious leaders around the world have widely condemned recent terror attacks in the United Kingdom, there's little basis to Hanson's panic about Muslim immigration. Australia's Immigration Department does not actually take note of religion when assessing applicants, but last year The Australian found that the majority of our recent immigrants from nations like Lebanon and Iran were of non-Muslim faith. According to ABS data, while Islam was once the fastest growing religion in Australia, there are now more Buddhist Australians than there are Muslim Australians.

Both Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten issued more sobering comments regarding the attacks. The Prime Minister offered "prayers and solidarity" in the face of the "shocking" events, while the Opposition Leader said "Australian hearts go out to our oldest friends."

VICE News is covering the investigation into the attacks as it unfolds.

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