BBC ‘DEFUND’ row explodes as Newsnight guest claims Trump would be in jail ‘if he were Black’: ‘Race-baiting hogwash!’
Broadway and Pose star Billy Porter has sparked outrage from Newsnight viewers and social media users after he claimed that Donald Trump would be imprisoned if he were Black.
The American actor made the provocative assertion whilst discussing Trump’s re-election with presenter Matt Chorley.
Porter, who became the first openly gay Black man to win an Emmy for lead actor in a drama series, suggested that Trump’s electoral success represents a racial “backlash” to Barack Obama’s presidency.
The 55-year-old performer went further, declaring that “America is a racist country” during the wide-ranging interview about Democratic challenges and activism in the United States.
Speaking directly about Trump’s presidency and the support he’s received from Black Americans, Porter told the BBC: “We’re not telling ourselves the truth.
“Therefore, we can be blindsided when someone like Trump comes along because we haven’t told ourselves the truth. We haven’t led with the truth.”
Chorley chimed in: “Is it a misunderstanding about what America is about? When you’ve got the number of young Black men who voted for Trump last time -“
“It wasn’t that many!” Porter interrupted, before Chorley clarified: “But if you look at the stats. Three in 10 Black men under the age of 45 voted for Trump in 2024, that’s roughly more than double the number than in 2020.”
“Okay,” Porter said as he let a momentary silence fill the studio. He then continued: “But that’s not the story. That’s not the story that we need to be focused on.
“We need to be focused, I feel, on why he’s not in jail. I don’t care who voted for him. What I care about is that our government did not put that man in jail. He should be in jail. Full stop.
“And if he were a Black man, he would be in jail. The narratives and what we talk about are distractions. I don’t care how many Black people voted for him; he should have been in jail to begin with. That’s my story, that’s what I’m focused on.”
When asked what he thinks it “says” about America that the public still elected Trump for president in light of the court cases, Porter erupted: “That’s what I’m saying!
“America is not now, nor have we ever been, better than this. That’s what it says to me. It’s a racist country.
“It is about race, it’s always been about race, and when Black people would say that in the past, we were shamed for playing the ‘race card’. It is about race, that’s all it’s about.”
Chorley then asked about whether monumental moments in American history could therefore be called “false dawns”, such as Barack Obama’s presidency or the Black Lives Matter movement.
“We’ve had moments and flashes of progress,” Porter replied. “There’s always a backlash to the progress, that’s historic.
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“We are seeing in real-time the backlash of a Black man rising to the highest position in the world, that was never supposed to happen.
“The systems are in place, the systemic inequality is in place to ensure that that would never happen, and it did. And now, the backlash is that that will never happen again!”
Newsnight soon shared clips of Porter’s interview with Chorley across social media, and it’s safe to say the overriding response to the actor’s stance wasn’t particularly favourable.
“What a clown. Why is he on taxpayer-funded TV?” one X user raged in response to the interview, before a second fumed: “How… pathetic are the BBC becoming! The downfall is superb to watch!”
A third echoed: “He’s not very bright, is he? He was given facts about how many black men voted for Trump and don’t know how to respond so deflected onto the Democrats attempts to jail their political opponent.”
Another concurred: “Yes ignore all the evidence to the contrary as long as your pre-determined view of the world needs reinforcing the BBC will always be happy to help.”
“‘If he was a black man, he would be in jail’… This kind of race baiting hogwash is part of the problem,” a fifth weighed in before another simply fumed: “Oh my gosh… Defund the BBC.” (sic)
GBNews.com has contacted the BBC for comment on the backlash to Porter’s interview.
Porter’s prominence in American entertainment spans decades, having won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his groundbreaking role as Lola in Kinky Boots.
His portrayal in the FX series Pose earned him particular acclaim, making history in 2019 when he became the first openly gay Black man to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
The Pittsburgh-born performer has built a distinguished career across Broadway, television and film. Time magazine recognised his cultural influence by including him on their list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2020.