BBC reprimands Naga Munchetty for accusing Donald Trump of racism

The BBC has upheld a complaint that BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty exhibited “bias” by inferring that Donald Trump was racist.

In the 17 July 2019 edition of the morning programme, Munchetty expressed anger over Mr Trump’s suggestion that Democratic congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came”.

“Every time I’ve been told as a woman of colour to ‘go home’, to ‘go back to where I’ve come from’, that was embedded in racism,” Munchetty said.

“Now, I’m not accusing anyone of anything here, but you know what certain phrases mean.”

She later said on the programme that she was “furious” about the comments, and that “a lot of people in this country” would be feeling the same way.

Munchetty’s comments drew praise on social media at the time, one tweet reading: ”Naga’s personal statement was exactly what that story needed, humanising the true depth of the horrific statement Trump made.”

The US president's comments, directed at four congresswomen of colour, all of whom are American citizens and three of whom were born in the United States, were widely condemned. Trump tweeted in response to the criticism: “Those Tweets were NOT Racist. I don’t have a Racist bone in my body!”

The BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) launched an investigation into Munchetty’s conduct after a viewer complained that the remarks were biased against Trump.

In a statement to The Independent, the BBC said: “The ECU ruled that while Ms Munchetty was entitled to give a personal response to the phrase ‘go back to your own country’ as it was rooted in her own experience, overall her comments went beyond what the guidelines allow for.”

No action against Munchetty has yet been taken, with the ECU due to publish their full summary on the complaint in the coming weeks.

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