British Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has condemned what she described as racist attacks against her after a former aide to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called her a “Nigerian scammer”.
Badenoch accused Reform UK politicians of exploiting her Nigerian background for political advantage, insisting that attempts to use her race against her would not succeed.
She spoke during an interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Thursday, following a series of social media posts by Raheem Kassam, a former senior aide to Farage.
Kassam, who previously served as editor-in-chief of Breitbart News, described Badenoch as an “unrelenting scammer”.
In another post, he wrote, “How are people still falling for this Nigerian scammer? Don’t give her your credit card number and bank account details!”
Reacting to the comments, Badenoch said, “I think it just shows the sort of people they are.”
“I think they think that maybe using my race is a way for them to improve their standing.
“Britain is not a racist country, and because it’s not a racist country, their racist attacks and using my race as an attack form is not going to work,” she said.
The controversy also drew attention to the response of Reform UK’s Treasury spokesman, Robert Jenrick, who declined to condemn Kassam’s comments.
Asked during an ITV interview whether he considered the remarks racist, Jenrick said he did not, although he acknowledged that they could be unpleasant or rude.
“It’s not my place to police everybody’s tweets who may or may not be a supporter of Reform,” he said.
Farage had also faced questions over whether he considered Kassam’s comments racist during an appearance on BBC Breakfast earlier in the week.
“I don’t think saying somebody grew up in Nigeria is racist,” he said.
Following further questioning, Farage acknowledged that the comment was excessive but maintained that it was not deliberately racist.
“Do I think the comment was over the top? Yes, I do. Do I think it was intentionally racist? No, I don’t,” he added.
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