Donald Trump’s Scottish representative has accused Holyrood politicians of ‘political posturing of the very worst kind’ in the wake of his staggering Presidential comeback.
Sarah Malone, executive vice president at Trump International, Scotland, slammed First Minister John Swinney for writing to Mr Trump after he swept to victory at Tuesday’s US elections – despite previously backing his Democrat rival Kamala Harris during the campaign.
And she criticised co-leader of the Scottish Green party Patrick Harvie for using ‘disgraceful, defamatory and downright insulting’ language towards the President-elect, who will be installed as leader of the free world for the second time when he is sworn in on January 20.
Writing in the Scottish Mail on Sunday, Ms Malone said: ‘This appalling behaviour of Patrick Harvie sends a message out that Scotland’s politicians are small-minded and spiteful.
‘Is that really what we want the world to see?’
Executive vice president of Trump International, Scotland, Sarah Malone and Donald Trump
It comes as Mr Swinney wrote to congratulate former reality TV star Mr Trump after he beat Democrat rival Kamala Harris in both the Electoral College system and popular vote last week.
That is despite the First Minister drawing criticism after endorsing Ms Harris during the campaign, saying: ‘People in the United States of America should vote for Kamala Harris.’
On Thursday, Mr Harvie used his platform at First Minister’s Questions to brand Mr Trump a ‘misogynist, a climate denier, a fraudster, a conspiracy monger, a racist, a far-right politician who tried to overturn an election result’.
Ms Malone, who overseas a number of Mr Trump’s Scottish operations said: ‘World leaders queued up to congratulate the 47th President-elect of the United States. So, what did he and his family hear from Scotland, the place he has done so much to support?
‘Political posturing of the very worst kind. The First Minister John Swinney said he had written to President Trump to congratulate him when only a few days earlier he was happy to denigrate him publicly.’
She continued: ‘Most reasonable people would see this for what it was and move on.
First Minister John Swinney (left) backed Kamala Harris in the US election while Greens leader Patrick Harvie (right) branded Mr Trump a ‘mysogynist’
‘Not so. Patrick Harvie, from the Scottish Greens, chastised the First Minister for congratulating President Trump before launching into a tirade against the man using language that was disgraceful, defamatory and downright insulting, not only to the future President of the United States but also to all those who rely upon and prosper as a result of the Trump investment in Scotland.’
Ms Malone said that Mr Harvie’s suggestion that Mr Trump was a ‘misogynist’ were undermined by the Republican leader appointing the first female US chief of staff at the White House, Susie Wiles.
She added that branding him a ‘racist’ was at odds with the fact Mr Trump won the support of an unprecedented number of African American and Latino voters.
Trump International owns Turnberry golf course on the South Ayshire coast and Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire.
Ms Malone said that his investment here – and support of the community – ‘seems a parallel universe to the, frankly, pitiful sight of parliamentarians willing to say almost anything for the sake of a cheap headline’.
She added: ‘It’s patently obvious that people will have differing political views and are free to share them.
‘However, what is galling for the hundreds of people who work for Trump in Scotland is to see constant abuse of a man and his family who have put heart and soul into creating top world ranking destinations in Scotland. Enough is enough.’
And in a final broadside at Holyrood politicians, she said: ‘Those who stoop so low to the political posturing we have seen this past week could not lace his boots.’
