‘I wasn’t saying the entire UK is racist’: Daily Show host Trevor Noah denies saying Britain was a racist country after Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid took him to task
- Noah, 38, had claimed ‘people are saying Indian people want to take over’ the UK
- It came after LBC Radio caller said Mr Sunak ‘was not as British as Boris Johnson’
- He now says he was only ‘responding to the racists who don’t want Rishi as PM’
Trevor Noah says he did not claim ‘the entire UK is racist’ as he sought to clarify remarks he made on The Daily Show following the appointment of Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister.
In a video posted on Twitter from his US satirical news programme, the South African comedian, 38, alleged there were people saying ‘now the Indians are going to take over Great Britain’.
His comments received a backlash online from many UK politicians including former Cabinet minister Sajid Javid, who said they were ‘simply wrong’.
Talk TV host Piers Morgan also criticised The Daily Show and other US media outlets for ‘falsely portraying Britain as a racist country’.
Responding to Morgan on Twitter, Noah said: ‘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”.’
Trevor Noah says he did not claim ‘the entire UK is racist’ as he sought to clarify remarks he made on The Daily Show following the appointment of Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister
His comments received a backlash online from many UK politicians including former Cabinet minister Sajid Javid, who said they were ‘simply wrong’ (Pictured: PM Rishi Sunak during his first PMQs this week)
Talk TV host Piers Morgan criticised The Daily Show and other US media outlets for ‘falsely portraying Britain as a racist country’. Responding to Morgan on Twitter, Noah said: ‘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”.’
However Morgan hit back, telling him: ‘No, you c’mon Trevor… there was no ”backlash” in the UK to Rishi Sunak becoming PM because of his heritage.
‘You made that up to create a racism narrative that simply didn’t happen… and we Brits are bored of US media (& disingenuous duchesses) making us out to be a bunch or racists.’
In his monologue, titled ‘Unpacking the backlash against new UK PM Rishi Sunak’, Noah had described seeing a ‘backlash’ following Mr Sunak’s appointment.
He said: ‘What I mean by that is this, you hear a lot of the people 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?”
He added: ‘I think it’s because the quiet part a lot of people don’t realise they are 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.”
Underneath the video, which has more than 850,000 views, social media users also questioned Noah’s comments with some accusing him of ‘projecting’ American views on race on to Britain.
Former chancellor and health secretary Mr Javid shared the clip and wrote: ‘Simply wrong. A narrative catered to his audience, at a cost of being completely detached from reality.
Trevor Noah, 38, sparked fury among his British fans on Twitter after uploading a segment from his programme The Daily Show, entitled: ‘Unpacking the Backlash to Rishi Sunak’
Noah’s segment was likely to be inspired by a telephone call from an LBC Radio listener last week, who suggested Mr Sunak ‘doesn’t love England’ and ‘isn’t even British in most people’s opinion.’ But after a Noah fan shared a clip of the call under the comedian’s video, Twitter users insisted it did not represent the view of any large number of people
‘Britain is the most successful multiracial democracy on earth and proud of this historic achievement.’
Asked whether Mr Sunak believes Britain is a racist country, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: ‘No he doesn’t.’
Noah’s segment was inspired by a telephone call from an LBC Radio listener last week, who suggested Mr Sunak ‘doesn’t love England’ and ‘isn’t even British in most people’s opinion.’
The caller claimed to be a Conservative Party member when he called into host Sangita Myska’s show.
Speaking on Sunday, before Mr Sunak won the race to become PM, the caller said: ‘Rishi’s not gonna win it. Rishi’s not even British, in most people’s opinion. He’s got American allegiance, his family’s American. They’re Indian businesspeople. He’ll go live in America no doubt. He doesn’t love England like Boris does.’
When Ms Myska insisted Mr Sunak was born in Southampton, making him British, he added: ‘Lots of people are, half of al-Qaeda are British citizens. I’m just saying having a British passport doesn’t mean you’re a true English patriot who loves England.’
But after a Noah fan shared a clip of the call in response to the comedian’s video, Twitter users insisted it did not represent the view of any large number of people.
Last month, South African TV presenter Noah announced he will be stepping down as host of The Daily Show after seven years at the helm (Pictured: Noah arriving at the annual Casamigos Halloween party in Beverly Hills on Friday night)
Viewing figures for The Daily Show plummeted by up to 75% following Noah’s takeover from former host Jon Stewart in 2013. Analysts partly blamed this on the shift to online streaming but also on the programme’s perceived ‘political bias’ and penchant for peddling ‘woke’ ideology (Pictured: Noah arriving at the annual Casamigos Halloween party in Beverly Hills on Friday night)
One wrote: ‘You do realise a few isolated cases doesn’t make a widespread backlash don’t you? If you search hard enough you will find someone that espouses any view you can think of.’
Another said: ‘In a population of 68 million it’s easy to find these examples. The reality is the overwhelming majority of Brits don’t think like this.’
Mr Sunak was born in Hampshire, south-east England, to Indian migrant parents – a pharmacist mother and a GP father – and is married to Akshata Murty, the daughter of billionaire Indian IT giant Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy, with whom he has two young daughters Krishna and Anoushka.
When he was appointed as Prime Minister on Tuesday, the 42-year-old became the UK’s first Hindu PM, the first of Asian heritage and the youngest for more than 200 years.
Last month, South African TV presenter Noah announced he will be stepping down as host of The Daily Show after seven years at the helm.
It came after viewing figures plummeted by up to 75% following his takeover from American host Jon Stewart in 2013.
Analysts partly blamed this on the shift to online streaming but also on the programme’s perceived ‘political bias’ and penchant for peddling ‘woke’ ideology.