I never called entire UK racist, says Trevor Noah

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29th Oct, 2022. 10:07 pm
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Trevor Noah denies saying “the entire UK is racist” in a spoof regarding Rishi Sunak’s appointment as PM.
Comments were criticized in the UK, with many including ex-chancellor Sajid Javid calling him “simply wrong”.
Noah Sunak is the host of The Daily Show, a satirical news programe in the US.

Trevor Noah denies saying “the entire UK is racist” in a spoof regarding Rishi Sunak’s PM appointment. Noah had said on a television programe there had been a “backlash” over Mr. Sunak.

His comments were criticized in the UK, with many including ex-chancellor Sajid Javid calling Noah “simply wrong”.

But Noah has now defended his segment, saying he was reacting to racists, and: “That’s why I said. ‘Some people’.”

After a leadership election, Mr. Sunak, the first British Asian prime minister, assumed his position as leader and prime minister of the Conservative Party on Tuesday.

Noah, a South African who grew up under apartheid, stated in his initial comments on the television programme: “You hear a lot of the folks saying ‘Oh, they’re taking over, now the Indians are going to take over Great Britain and what’s next?'”

“And I always find myself going ‘So what? What are you afraid of? I think it’s because the quiet part that a lot of people don’t realize what they’re saying is, ‘We don’t want these people who were previously oppressed to get into power because then they may do to us what we did to them.'”

Noah used a radio tape from the most recent Conservative leadership contest, when a caller erroneously claimed Mr. Sunak was “not even British,” during his performance.

Mr Javid tweeted in response that the comments from the comedian were “so wrong” and that Britain “is the most successful multiracial democracy on earth and proud of this historic achievement”.

Former Tory leadership contender Rory Stewart said Mr. Noah’s remarks were “completely bizarre” and an example of “lazy stereotyping”.

On Thursday, Downing Street stated that Mr. Sunak did not think that Britain was a racist nation.

Presenter Piers Morgan also tweeted that US media was “falsely portraying Britain as a racist country”.

Noah finally responded on Friday evening, saying: “C’mon Piers, you’re smarter than that.

“I wasn’t saying “The entire UK is racist”, I was responding to the racists who don’t want Rishi as PM because of his race. That’s why I said. “Some people”.”

C’mon Piers you’re smarter than that. I wasn’t saying “The entire U.K. is racist”, I was responding to the racists who don’t want Rishi as PM because of his race. That’s why I said. “Some people” 🙃https://t.co/QQgEQ45wJU https://t.co/bhurdPvsE8
— Trevor Noah (@Trevornoah) October 28, 2022

Since he was born in South Africa to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a period when such a connection was illegal, Noah has long advocated for racial equality. In 2017, he published a book with the working title Born a Crime.

Before migrating to the US in 2011, he started his career in South Africa, where he produced a number of stand-up specials and hosted a late-night chat show.

Since 2015, he has served as host of The Daily Show, a late-night chat show and satirical news programme, but he announced last month that he would be stepping down.

Mr. Sunak is married to Akshata Murty and has two small girls, Krishna and Anoushka, with her. His parents are Indian, and he was born in Hampshire, in south-east England.

I never called entire UK racist, says Trevor Noah

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