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Both Tory leadership rivals have criticised Donald Trump for telling four congresswomen of colour to go back to their “broken and crime infested” countries.
Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt condemned the US president’s “completely unacceptable” comments but stopped short of labelling them as racist.
Mr Trump sparked fury on Sunday when he told the “progressives” to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came” – despite their American citizenship.
The Tory leadership rivals made their opinion on Mr Trump’s remarks clear during the final showdown before Conservative Party members vote for Prime Minister Theresa May’s successor.
Speaking at a debate hosted by The Sun and talkRadio, Mr Johnson was asked if he agreed with Mrs May that the comments were “completely unacceptable”.
He said: “If you are the leader of a great multiracial, multicultural society you simply cannot use that kind of language about sending people back to where they came from.
“That went out decades and decades ago and thank heavens for that so it’s totally unacceptable and I agree with the Prime Minister.”
However, when he was pressed on whether the comments were racist, he said: “I simply can’t understand how a leader of that country can come to say it.”
Pressed again, he replied: “You can take from what I said what I think about President Trump’s words.”
Asked the same question, Mr Hunt said he also agreed with Downing Street’s condemnation.
“I have three half-Chinese children, and they are British citizens born on the NHS, and if anyone ever said to them ‘go back to China’, I would be utterly appalled,” he said.
“And I would say something else, it is totally un-British to do that and so I hope that would never happen in this country.”
He too was challenged on whether the remarks are racist.
He said: “I think that, look I’m Foreign Secretary, this is a president of a country which happens to be our closest ally and so it is not going to help the situation to use that kind of language about the president of the United States.
“I can understand how many people in this country would want politicians like me to use those words and would feel that sentiment but I will make absolutely clear, I hope I have made absolutely clear, how totally offensive it is to me that people are still saying that kind of thing.”
Earlier the two rivals clashed over crashing Britain out of the EU without a deal on the October 31 Brexit deadline.
Mr Hunt claimed he was the most likely candidate to get Brexit delivered by the current deadline.
“On Brexit, if people think with their heads as well as their hearts, they will see that my way of delivering Brexit is more likely to get us out by October 31 because I have a plan for no-deal but also the ability to negotiate a deal that can get through the Houses of Parliament,” he said.
“Being prime minister is not just about what you promise but what you can deliver.”
On the other hand, Mr Johnson said the nation faces a “momentous choice” between the “same old failed can-kicking approach” between change and getting back “our mojo”.
“The way to do that is to get Brexit done by October 31,” he said.
.Mr Johnson challenged Mr Hunt on when he would deliver Brexit, saying any delay would be “absurd”.
“I’m hearing that Jeremy might delay for a few days. Well, how many days? Is that three days? Is that six days?” Mr Johnson said.
“You said you would be prepared to wait until Christmas. Which Christmas is it?”
