Theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking, a British citizen, can explain some of the most confounding elements of our universe but when it comes to the rise of Donald Trump as the presumptive U.S. Republican presidential nominee, he’s stumped.
Hawking told Good Morning Britain Tuesday that he couldn’t explain Trump’s political rise, saying only that “he is a demagogue, who seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator.”
Hawking isn’t the first British public figure to speak out against Trump. Regarding his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the U.S., Prime Minister David Cameron has said, “I think his remarks are divisive, stupid and wrong.” Newly elected London Mayor Sadiq Khan, himself a muslim, has said “If Donald Trump becomes the president I’ll be stopped from going there by virtue of my faith, which means I can’t engage with American mayors and swap ideas.” And members of Britain’s parliament have even considered banning Trump from the U.K. given his comments about the country, including a claim that Britain has a “massive Muslim problem,” reported CNN.
Fortune has reached out to the Trump campaign and will update this story with any response.
