'I never said the whole UK was racist': Trevor Noah hits back at critics after claiming 'British backlash' to Sunak becoming PM

29 October 2022, 17:25

US talk show host Trevor Noah has insisted that he never meant that the whole UK was racist, after being criticised for claiming that there had been a backlash to Rishi Sunak becoming the country's first Asian Prime Minister.

Daily Show presenter Mr Noah said on his satirical news programme The Daily Show this week that some people are saying that "now the Indians are going to take over Great Britain".

He also opened an earlier show with a reference to a racist caller to LBC, who told presenter Sangita Myska that Mr Sunak "doesn't represent Britain".

LBC: Sangita Myska eviscerates this caller who claims Suank 'doesn't love England'

Former cabinet minister Sajid Javid later said Mr Noah's comments were "completely detached from reality".

And Mr Sunak's own spokesperson, asked whether he believes the country he governs is racist, said: "No he doesn't."

Former Chancellor Mr Javid rejected Mr Noah's comments, saying: "Simply wrong. A narrative catered to his audience, at a cost of being completely detached from reality.

He added: "Britain is the most successful multiracial democracy on earth and proud of this historic achievement."

Popular historian Tom Holland also hit out at Mr Noah's comments.

He said: "As ever, the inability of American liberals to understand the world beyond the US in anything but American terms is a thing of wonder.

"(The likelihood of the right-wing party in the US choosing a Hindu as its leader is, I would agree, effectively zero.)"

TV presenter Piers Morgan also took to Twitter to argue that US media was “falsely portraying Britain as a racist country”.

Now Mr Noah has pushed back against his British critics, claiming that his comments have been blown out of proportion.

He replied to Mr Morgan's tweet, 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’.”

Mr Noah made his original comments on his show earlier this week. A clip posted to social media has been viewed more than 1.3 million times.

He said: "Watching the story of Rishi Sunak becoming England's first Prime Minister of colour, of Indian descent, of all these things and then seeing the backlash is one of the more telling things about how people view the role that they or their people have played in history.

"And 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?'"

Mr Noah's claims came after a now-infamous conversation between LBC presenter Sangita Myska and a caller known only as 'Jerry from Lowestoft' two days before Mr Sunak won the Conservative leadership election.

The clip has now been viewed millions of times. Sangita, who, like Mr Sunak, is of East African Indian descent, said the video had been sent back to her from people all over the world.

Read more: Brit kayaker rescued at sea after spending days clinging to buoy in English Channel 'vanishes from French hospital'

She wrote in a later piece for LBC reflecting on the incident: "That conversion on LBC has kicked off a conversation worldwide about the moment the racist underbelly of a society collides with body politic so openly that the world can hear and feel [every] word of hate.

Read more: 'Peddling false claims': UK slams Russia for accusing Royal Navy of blowing up Nord Stream pipeline

"Racism exists in every society where there is a racially minoritized group. Britain is no exception. It has its own complex historical relationship with ethnic minorities by virtue of Empire and the subjugation of three quarters of the globe – most of whom were people of colour. 

"We are now over here, because colonial Britain was over there."

Sangita added: "On my LBC show I encourage my listeners to lean into their complex, difficult feelings - not hide away behind flippant remarks. 

"Then, in a safe, honest and open space we explore them together in a nuanced and balanced way."