# Farage's racism dodge: have it both ways

> Nigel Farage claims Raheem Kassam's 'Nigerian scammer' slur was both racist and not racist, then blames everyone else for the mess.
- Title: Farage's racism dodge: have it both ways · the Guardian
- Summary: Nigel Farage claims Raheem Kassam's 'Nigerian scammer' slur was both racist and not racist, then blames everyone else for the mess. Nigel Farage defended…
- Keywords: nigel farage, raheem kassam, kemi badenoch, reform uk, racism, bbc breakfast, sally nugent, news, world, Farage's, dodge, both
- Source: the Guardian — https://theguardian.com/politics/2026/oct/27/nigel-farage-raheem-kassam-kemi-badenoch-nigerian-scammer
- Published: 2026-10-27T17:29:26+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: nigel farage, raheem kassam, kemi badenoch, reform uk, racism, bbc breakfast, sally nugent, news, world
## Kassam's slur on Badenoch
Raheem Kassam, touted as Reform's next chief of staff, called Kemi Badenoch a Nigerian scammer. The comment was designed to denigrate the opposition leader by comparing her to a West African phone scammer.

> Nigerian scammer
## Reform MPs defend the comment
Robert Jenrick called it forensic journalism. Danny Kruger said it could not be racist because he could not conceive of any of Nigel's friends being racist.
## Farage's BBC Breakfast interview
Nigel Farage took his first proper morning media round in months on BBC Breakfast with presenter Sally Nugent. The interview did not end well for him, described as car-crash television.
## Farage claims Kassam is Indian
Farage tried to claim Kassam had not been a former chief of staff and was not even a friend.Then he said Kassam was of Indian heritage, as if that precluded all Indians from being racist.

> He's Indian. He's of Indian heritage.
## The word dissociation game
Farage argued that using the words Nigerian and scammer together did not necessarily connect them. He claimed Kemi was of Nigerian descent and was a scammer because she had said things that were demonstrably untrue.
## Schrödinger's racism
When Sally Nugent pressed him on whether he thought it was racist, Farage said no, perhaps a bit over the top but definitely not intentionally racist.

> No, I don't.
## Farage denies responsibility
Farage said he could not be held responsible for social media posts his friends and supporters made. He claimed it was his curse that so many in Reform expressed themselves in racist language.
## Kassam's email to the Guardian
Raheem Kassam emailed a Guardian journalist saying Farage had given him a ticking off for a tweet that was neither clever nor funny. Kassam said his tweet could have been better phrased and timed.
## Kassam blames time in the US
Kassam suggested he had spent too much time in the US recently, where out-and-out racism was an acceptable rite of political discourse. He claimed Brits had lost their sense of humour about racist jokes.
## Kassam posts again about Badenoch
On Tuesday morning Kassam posted about Kemi Scammenoch on X. The post was subsequently deleted, as was his pinned Nigerian scammer tweet. His contrition appeared not to be all it seemed.

> Kemi Scammenoch
## Pattern of bigotry around Farage
The article notes that so many close to Farage and his organisation turn out to be bigots. When Kassam and Farage show you what they are, believe them.
## Key takeaway

Nigel Farage defended ally Raheem Kassam's 'Nigerian scammer' comment about Kemi Badenoch by claiming it was not intentionally racist, then suggested Kassam's Indian heritage made racism impossible, while Kassam later blamed time in the US for his language.