Boris Johnson was accused of ‘dog whistle racism’ and likened to right-wing ‘Tea Party’ politicians in the US this morning after his attack on the ‘part-Kenyan’ Barack Obama.
The Mayor of London spoke out against the US President after he urged British voters to stay in the EU and mentioned his African ancestry as he criticised the decision to remove a bust of Sir Winston Churchill from the Oval Office shortly after Mr Obama entered the White House.
Mr Johnson – who is favourite to succeed David Cameron as Prime Minister – suggested the President got rid of the statue as a ‘snub’ to Britain’s wartime prime minister and a ‘symbol of the part-Kenyan President’s ancestral dislike of the British empire’.
But Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell hit out at Mr Johnson and demanded he withdraw the controversial remarks.
He wrote on Twitter: ‘Mask slips again. Boris part-Kenyan Obama comment is yet another example of dog whistle racism from senior Tories. He should withdraw it.’
Mr Johnson’s team has yet to respond to MailOnline’s request for a comment.
And Diane Abbott, Shadow International Development Secretary, hit out at Mr Johnson, describing his remarks as ‘offensive’ and said they echoed those of the Tea Party’s right-wing, anti-immigration tendency in the US.
Former Lib Dem leader Lord Campbell said Mr Johnson’s comments were ‘an unacceptable smear’
More at the Daily Mail
Tea party anti immigration, they have been listening to too much American cable pseudo news. The tea party is against illegal immigrants not legal immigrants, they should take a look at EUs border bashers and get a friggin clue.
Poor John McDonnell.
He’s falling into that trap that, if you don’t agree with Obama you must be racist meme.
Now, it’s a crime of ”racism,” to point out a man’s actual background????
Actually, it was probably Obama’s Kenyan dad’s undue influence (considering the man abandoned Obama as a baby) that caused Obama to even be aware of colonial Kenya under British rule…..and dislike the UK because of it.
If being in the EU dilutes the identity of the UK, then Obama is for it.
He has a special hatred for the UK based on his cracked view of it based on his father’s ”dream.”