THE former editor of The Sun has been slammed for a tweet that has been described as ‘disgusting’ and ‘Islamophobic’.
Kelvin MacKenzie – who became editor of The Sun in 1981 before leaving in 1994 – said on Twitter/X that he loved watching Labour leader Keir Starmer get “humiliated by the increasingly powerful and militant Muslim wing of his party”.
He then added: “If you want a party run by a religion which embraces baby killers, granny murderers and mass slaughterers it will be Labour for you next Autumn.”
It comes after Starmer met Muslim MPs and peers straight after PMQs on Wednesday, following backlash to the leader’s comments on LBC radio where he appeared to suggest Israel has the right to cut off power and water to Gaza. Asked if that was appropriate, Starmer said: “I think that Israel does have that right.”
The 77-year-old was swiftly condemned, with the post’s visibility then limited as it “may violate X’s rules against hateful conduct”.
Radio and TV presenter Matthew Stadlen said it was a “disgusting tweet”, to which MacKenzie replied: “Thank you.”
Another user asked: “Is this not racist and Islamophobic hate speech?”
It shows how tolerated Islamophobia is in the British media that a senior figure like Mackenzie can regularly make comments like this one, which in this case is so grim that even Musk's Twitter felt it had to intervene, and he's still invited back time and again on TV and radio. pic.twitter.com/4FdqQZRrXg
— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) October 25, 2023
Adam Bienkov, political editor at Byline Times, added: “It shows how tolerated Islamophobia is in the British media that a senior figure like Mackenzie can regularly make comments like this one, which in this case is so grim that even Musk's Twitter felt it had to intervene, and he's still invited back time and again on TV and radio.”
MacKenzie, who was also a columnist for The Sun until 2017, was let go for comparing a young mixed-race footballer to “a gorilla in the zoo”.
