Stand-up comedian and television presenter Nish Kumar waded into a controversy with his tweet on the UK’s political developments reported for racism.
After the chancellor of exchequer Rishi Sunak and health secretary Sajid Javid resigned from prime minister Boris Johnson’s cabinet on Tuesday, Kumar took to social media saying he would “love to see a rich white man brought down by Asians.”
“Balancing out the fact that I can’t stand Javid or Sunak with the fact that I love to see a rich white man brought down by Asians.”
The tweet saw more than 36,000 likes and also attracted a barrage of criticism. Black political commentator Calvin Robinson replied to the post saying he reported it for “racism”.
A Twitter user, who goes by the name Yogica, said, “Why do you have to make it about race?”
“I’m no expert, admittedly, but is that not racist? I’m just thinking about it from the other way around, and I’m pretty sure it would be,” said Richard Kitchen.
Kumar, the host of the satirical comedy Late Night Mash, made no secret of his dislike for Javid and Sunak in another tweet.
“If you are praising Javid or Sunak, clearly you have low standards for Asians. May I therefore interest you in a ticket for my Edinburgh show,” he said.
Kumar had previously courted controversy and apologised for having given a platform on The Mash Report show to journalist Steve Topple, who allegedly promoted “antisemitic conspiracy theories”.
The BBC last year discontinued the Mash Report show after claims of left-wing bias, although the corporation attributed its action merely to “make room for new comedy shows’.
Kumar hit back at the broadcaster’s decision to cancel the programme, posting a picture of himself in front of the words ‘Boris Johnson is a liar and a racist’, Mail Online reported.
