THE BBC has ruled that presenter Naga Munchetty breached its editorial guidelines with her remarks on racist comments by US President Donald Trump.
Presenting BBC Breakfast, she responded to Trump telling four female congresswomen of colour to "go back to the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came".
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib are all US citizens, with only Omar born overseas.
The show hosted a segment with a Trump supporter defending the comments, and Munchetty offered her thoughts.
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She explained: "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.
"Now, I'm not accusing anyone of anything here, but you know what certain phrases mean."
Asked how she felt about the President using such language, she went on: “Furious. Absolutely furious, and I can imagine lots of people in this country will be feeling absolutely furious a man in that position thinks it's OK to skirt the lines by using language like that.”
She added: "Anyway, I'm not here to give my opinion."
Despite the BBC sharing the clip on social media, its executive complaints unit (ECU) has now declared that she breached the broadcaster's guidelines.
"I've been told as a woman of colour to 'go home'..."@BBCNaga shares her experience as we discuss the reaction to comments made by President Trump. pic.twitter.com/u0HL5tEdgt
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) 17 July 2019
The ECU ruled that Munchetty saying Trump's comments were "embedded in racism" went beyond what the BBC allows, upholding a complaint that had been made against them.
A spokeswoman for 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 has been taken against her yet.
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