Donald Trump has right to be 'bigoted', says JK Rowling

Business tycoon, US presidential candidate and self-confessed bigmouth Donald Trump has every right to be “offensive and bigoted”, Harry Potter author JK Rowling has said.

Speaking at Pen America’s annual gala in New York, Ms Rowling said she disagreed with a petition calling for Mr Trump to be barred from entering the UK. The petition racked up almost 400,000 signatures in 24 hours.

“If my offended feelings can justify a travel ban on Donald Trump, I have no moral grounds on which to argue that those offended by feminism, or the fight for transgender rights, or universal suffrage, should not oppress campaigners for those causes,” she told audience members.

She told people that while she found Mr Trump offensive, his freedom to speak “protects my freedom to call him a bigot.”

Ms Rowling was honoured at the gala for her work defending women’s rights and opposing censorship.

“If you seek the removal of freedoms from an opponent simply on the grounds that they have offended you, you have crossed a line to stand alongside tyrants who imprison, torture and kill on exactly the same justifications,” she told attendees.