LEE Anderson has been mocked for a bizarre interview in which he appeared to blame the media for painting him as “some sort of Islamophobe or racist”.

The former Tory party vice chairman lost the Conservative whip over the weekend for comments he made about London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

He has so far continued to double down on his comments after he claimed “Islamists” had “got control” of Khan and London.

Speaking to Channel 4’s Gary Gibbon, Anderson was once again asked about his comments and replied: “Well, who’s controlling the streets at the moment in London? We see, every Wednesday night, it’s almost a weekly occurrence now, Parliament Square is taken over by a mob of extremists who are shining disgusting projections onto Big Ben ‘from the river to the sea’.

“We’ve seen it time and time again now. It’s disgusting, it’s hateful, it’s inciting hatred. SO when I call these people out, remember that the Mayor London is responsible for the policing of our great city.”

Anderson denied a suggestion he had “dug himself into a hole” and added: “It’s you, it’s the media that are trying to paint this picture that I’m some sort of Islamophobe or racist.

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“And I’m not. I admit that my words might have been a little bit clumsy at times. The point I was trying to get across is that Mayor Khan has not got control of the streets of London.”

He pointed to a number of organisations who he said were “out of control,” including Extinction Rebellion and Black Lives Matter.

Responding to the clip, SNP MP John Nicolson said: “Poor @GaryGibbonC4 – it’s like being stuck in a room with a very dull, dim, pub bore. ‘Now then you won’t put that in your clip will you?’ Scratches head.”

Anderson added that dozens of Tory MPs had text him to say he had done nothing wrong but told the interviewer he would have to ask Rishi Sunak why he had lost the whip.

When it was put to Anderson that Khan would consider what he said an “attack,” the MP replied: “Well he’s a Labour Party politician, it’s fair game. I didn’t attack him because he’s a Muslim or he’s got a different religion.”

He said he would have said the same about any mayor and again rejected the suggestion he had attacked him based on his religion.

Towards the end of the clip, Anderson also said: “Islam is not a race of people. So how can I be racist? You’ve not put that in the clip have you?”