Trevor Noah responds to criticism over ‘racist’ World Cup joke

Trevor Noah came under fire earlier this week after he shared a picture of refugees taking the World Cup trophy to France, and joked that Africa had won the soccer tournament

The picture and joke sparked a debate on social media, with many labelling it “racist”.

French ambassador Gerard Araud weighed in on the situation through a letter.

“This, even in jest, legitimises the ideology which claims whiteness as the only definition of being French,” he said.

Trevor did not take the criticism lightly and fired back with a stinging response on The Daily Show.

“Why can’t they be both? Why is that duality only afforded to a select group of people? Why can’t they be African too? So, you can’t be French and African at the same time? Which I vehemently disagree with,” he said.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlR01lsHfOm/

Trevor explained that he was not trying to take away from their French heritage at all.

“When I’m saying ‘African’ I’m not saying it to exclude them from their French-ness, I’m saying it to include them in my African-ness,” he added.

Watch Trevor’s spicy response here:

The French ambassador to the U.S. @GerardAraud criticized Trevor for congratulating Africa on France’s World Cup victory. Trevor responds #BetweenTheScenes: pic.twitter.com/5nJklXRyY8

— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) July 19, 2018

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