Unconstrained by basic decency, or any sense of the political climate in Britain, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, made his own behavior a central issue in the final days of the British election campaign by once again attacking the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, in the aftermath of a deadly terror attack on his city.

Trump was roundly criticized in Britain for falsely claiming on Sunday that Khan had said that there was “no reason to be alarmed” by the terror attack on London Bridge. The mayor, as anyone who watched his televised comments knew, had instead tried to instill calm by advising Londoners not to be worried by “an increased police presence” in response to the attack.

Rather than apologize, Trump repeated the smear on Monday — and added a new lie: that the mayor had been forced to think of an “excuse” for the comment he did not, in fact, make.