In response to a controversy surrounding a comedy he did on the appointment of Rishi Sunak as prime minister, comedian Trevor Noah maintains he did not assert that “the entire United Kingdom is racist.”
Noah stated earlier this week on the American news program The Daily Show that there had been a “backlash” against Mr. Sunak.
His remarks were criticized in the United Kingdom, with many, including ex-prime minister Sajid Javid, calling him “just incorrect.”
Noah has now defended his program, stating that he was responding to bigots, and: “This is why I stated. “A few persons”
Mr. Sunak is the United Kingdom’s first British Asian prime minister. On Tuesday, following a leadership transition, he assumed his position as Conservative leader and prime minister.
Noah, who is South African and grew up through apartheid, stated in his initial comments on the US program: “Many people say, “Oh, they’re taking over, now the Indians will take over Great Britain, and what’s next?
“And I frequently find myself asking, “So what? What are your fears? I believe this is because many people don’t realize that what they’re saying is, “We don’t want these formerly oppressed people to gain power because they might do to us what we did to them.”
During his act, Noah presented a clip from radio station LBC from a week before, when a caller erroneously claimed that Mr. Sunak was “not even British.”
In reaction, Mr. Javid tweeted that the comedian’s remarks were “totally incorrect” and that Britain is “the most successful multiracial democracy in the world and we are proud of this historic achievement.
Former Tory candidate for the leadership Rory Stewart described Mr. Noah’s comments as “totally strange” and an example of “lazy stereotyping.”
Thursday, Downing Street said that Mr. Sunak did not perceive the United Kingdom to be a racist nation.
Presenter Piers Morgan also tweeted that the U.S. media falsely portrayed the United Kingdom as a racist nation.
Finally responding on Friday evening, Noah stated: “You are wiser than that, Piers.
“I wasn’t arguing that the entire United Kingdom is racist; rather, I was replying to the bigots who oppose Rishi’s election as prime minister due to his color. This is why I stated. “A few persons”
Born a Crime is an allusion to the fact that Noah was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother in South Africa during a time when such a relationship was punishable by imprisonment.
Before moving to the United States in 2011, he began his career in South Africa by releasing a series of stand-up specials and hosting a late-night chat show.
Since 2015, he has hosted The Daily Show, a late-night conversation and satirical news program, but last month he announced his departure.
Mr. Sunak was born in Hampshire, south-east England, to Indian parents, a pharmacy mother, and a general practitioner father. He is married to Akshata Murty and has two little children, Krishna and Anoushka, with her.
