Paul de Leeuw says sorry after saying about Asians

Paul de Leeuw has yesterday at the start of the broadcast of On 1 apologized for his statements last week about “the mindset of Asian people.” In retrospect, he calls it a “rather blunt, shortsighted comment.”

The presenter of On 1 said last week in a conversation with TV virologist Ab Osterhaus that Asian people “do what the boss says right away”. That would be in their mindset. The comment went down the wrong way with many people. On social media, some viewers called it racist.

“Mindset of the Asian People.” Paul de Leeuw 2021 @ op1npo Do. Normal.

– Juul (@Juul_Verheijen) January 22, 2021

“It was never my intention, but with this comment I have made sure that I have shaved them all over. I’m sorry, ”said De Leeuw. “I therefore apologize for this. We sometimes say you learn from mistakes, so I hope I really learned from this. Again my apologies, but it happened. ”

People went wild on Twitter at the time, someone said: “Can this racist nonsense finally stop?”

Paul de Leeuw @ op1npo: ‘That is the mentality of the Asian man. He immediately does what the boss says. ‘
Could this racist nonsense finally end?

– Gijs Moes (@gijsmoes) January 22, 2021

‘Mentality of Asians’

The conversation with Osterhaus last week was about China’s corona policy. What they did there seems to be working.

“The strategy used in China has worked. Very strict and very hard about it ”, Osterhaus began. “I think it’s really great. They receive a number of corona cases and immediately ensure that the situation is under control. That means testing, testing, testing… we didn’t do that in Europe. ”

And then De Leeuw starts talking about ‘the mentality of Asian people’. That went wrong with many viewers, and Osterhaus was also not sure how to respond to it. “Oh yes?” He wondered aloud. “I do not know. I don’t know if that’s the mindset of Asian people. The government simply does not accept no for an answer, ”Osterhaus continued.

De Leeuw is not only criticized for his comment, his skills as a presenter are also under fire. For example, some people feel that he does not belong to such a program.

Paul de Leeuw has no business with such a program. Astrid Joosten neither by the way! #on 1 Stop that #NPO https://t.co/2pnDKm1myR

– El Flitso…. Just stay at home !! (@ElFlitso) January 29, 2021

Paul de Leeuw cannot interview at all, partly because he does not listen. Ego problem. Shockingly real. Cobbler stick with your read. Low point for journalism. My mother likes Paul de Leeuw and that is allowed. But with this he really gives up a lot of points. Point.

– Rick Treffers (@ricktreffers) January 22, 2021

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