British TV presenter slammed for ‘erasing apartheid history’ to smear Jeremy Corbyn as ‘racist’

Channel 4 presenter Rachel Riley is under fire after posting a photo of herself in a T-shirt featuring a doctored image of Jeremy Corbyn with his anti-apartheid message erased and replaced by one branding him a “racist.”

Riley, a well-known and consistent critic of Corbyn in relation to claims of an anti-semitism “crisis” within UK Labour, posted the controversial image on Twitter on Wednesday night. The photo shows Corbyn being arrested whilst protesting against South African apartheid in 1984.

Imagine having the confidence to smear Jeremy Corbyn as a racist, while simultaneously erasing apartheid history for your own twisted agenda. Rachel Riley, everyone. pic.twitter.com/nrbKKVfV1D

— Mike P Williams (@Mike_P_Williams) November 21, 2019

The Labour leader, who at the time was not long into his job as a UK MP, wore a placard that read: “Defend the right to protest against apartheid. Join this picket.” However, the Countdown presenter replaced these words with: “Jeremy Corbyn is a racist endeavour.”

The stunt by Riley prompted an angry response, particularly from black activists and those associated with the anti-apartheid movement. Andrew Feinstein, a former MP under the late South African leader Nelson Mandela, branded Riley’s post “offensive, appalling & deeply repugnant.”

As a former MP under Nelson Mandela, as the son of a Holocaust survivor who lost 39 members of her family in the camps, as a Sth African anti-racist, I find what Rachel Riley has done offensive, appalling & deeply repugnant. (Cud someone who she hasn’t blocked plse pass this on) https://t.co/ioC8UFdlfd

— Andrew Feinstein (@andrewfeinstein) November 21, 2019

Black activist Chardine Taylor Stone hit out at Riley insisting that “You do not treat apartheid as joke to make a statement.” Others accused her of having a “twisted agenda,” by smearing Corbyn as a racist, “while simultaneously erasing apartheid history.”

The latest incident surrounding Corbyn and allegations of racism come after he was somewhat bizarrely accused of anti-semitism during the general election TV ‘Leaders debate’ with PM Boris Johnson on Tuesday.

Both men were asked about Prince Andrew and his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Corbyn apparently committed the cardinal sin of pronouncing Epstein’s name as ‘Epshtine’ rather than ‘Epsteen’. One critic, comedian David Baddiel, claimed that “every Jew noticed” that Corbyn had made the name “sound more Jewish.”

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