Badenoch says British politicians Nigerian scammer comment racist

British Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, on Thursday condemned a former senior aide to Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, for calling her a “Nigerian scammer.”

Speaking during an interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Mrs Badenoch, who was born in London, but grew up in Nigeria, said the attack by Raheem Kassam, denigrating her Nigerian background was “racist.”

Mr Kassam, a former editor-in-chief of Breitbart News, launched attacks against Mrs Badenoch on social media, and accusing her of using her Nigerian background to advance her career.

He wrote, “How are people still falling for this Nigerian scammer? Don’t give her your credit card number and bank account details!”

However, Mrs Badenoch said the antics by Mr Kassam, and the opposition party of using her race to score themselves political points wouldn’t work, and condemned Reform politicians for attacking her, rather than selling their policies.

She 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.”

The Reform’s Treasury spokesman, Robert Jenrick, in an interview with ITV, said Mr Kassam’s remarks weren’t racist but described them as unpleasant or rude.

Mr Jenrick said, “It’s not my place to police everybody’s tweets who may or may not be a supporter of Reform.”

Mr Farage, in an interview with BBC Breakfast, defended Mr Kassam’s comments, saying though his comments were “over the top,” he believed that referring to her growing up in Nigeria was not racist.