On Saturday, Jimmie Åkesson commented for the first time on the criticism of party leader Richard Jomshof.
After a post on X, formerly Twitter, in which Jomshof described the prophet Muhammad as a “robber” and “mass murderer”, the opposition demanded that he leave his post as chairman of the Riksdag’s justice committee.
Åkesson says to TT that he sees no problem with his party colleague’s choice of words.
“It is not Jomshof that is the problem, but intolerant Islamists around the world who take every opportunity to point out how offended they are, who cannot accept our way of life and who try to influence our legislation in various ways through threats,” he says.
While Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) has said that everyone, including Jomshof, has a responsibility to downplay the situation, Liberal party leader Johan Pehrson called the statements deeply inappropriate.
Both have said that they talked to Åkesson about the matter, but according to the SD leader, the Tidö collaboration has not been harmed by the criticism.
“I have explained how I see the matter, and they have been content with that,” says Åkesson.