An online petition to bar Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump from the United Kingdom garnered over 250,000 signatures on Wednesday, well past the 100,000-signature threshold needed for lawmakers to debate the issue, NBC News reported.
By 6:10 p.m. (1:10 p.m. ET), the U.K. petition created on Tuesday had earned 258,934 signatures.
Trump has received backlash both in the United States and from abroad after saying Muslims should not be allowed to enter the U.S. The British government has the power to bar people considered a threat to public safety or national security, or those with criminal convictions. In the past, the U.K. has denied entry to figures as diverse as boxer Mike Tyson, rapper Tyler the Creator, radical Muslim preachers and the late Christian fundamentalist Fred Phelps Sr.
