Niall Horan hits back over Trump calling protesters 'thugs' after George Floyd death

Niall Horan has slammed Donald Trump for calling protesters 'thugs' in the aftermath of George Floyd's death.

The One Direction singer asked the US President if he was "listening to himself" following his reaction to the news.

He posted: "THUGS ?? these people are protesting against the fact that one of YOUR animalistic white policemen kneeled on George’s windpipe and forced him to stop breathing and killed him??

"THUGS???? Are you listening to yourself?"

On Monday Floyd became the latest of many black people to die while in police custody in the US when an officer knelt on his back for five minutes.

His death has sparked several nights of protests in Minneapolis that have resulted in arson, looting and vandalism.

Trump tweeted: "These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won't let that happen.

"Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way.

"Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!"

His tweet sparked outrage and even lead Twitter to add an unprecedented warning that the post "glorifies violence".

"This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence," the message reads.

"However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible."

In retaliation Trump has signed an executive order opening the door for government regulators to punish Google, Facebook and Twitter for the way they police content online.

Trump said his administration may "remove or change" a provision of a law known as section 230 that shields social media companies from liability for content posted by their users.