Piers Morgan called an 'idiot' on 'Good Morning Britain' by Stop Trump Coalition activist
British journalist Piers Morgan has been accused of being an "idiot" and an "incompetent journalist" by Ash Sarkar, a Stop Trump Coalition activist, in an interview which was aired on 'Good Morning Britain' just ahead of Trump's meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday. Demonstrations are being planned across the UK during Donald Trump's visit on July 13 to protest against Trump's zero-tolerance policy under which any person caught crossing the US-Mexican border illegally will be criminally prosecuted.
Ash Sarkar, who is a senior editor at Novara Media and lectures in political theory at Anglia Ruskin and the Sandberg Instituut, was interrupted almost within seconds by Piers when she started talking about Trump's immigration policy. Morgan kept interrupting Sarkar claiming that most of the protests were rather biased. He said that no such protests took place when Obama's deportation policy saw more than 2.5 million undocumented people deported by the immigration authorities since he took office in 2009.
Morgan exclaimed, "How many people did he deport? Why didn't you protest him?" He further pestered Sarkar by saying that she didn't even know what the former President had done, "You don't even know what your hero Obama did."
Sarkar responded saying, "He's not my hero. I'm a communist, you idiot!" She held her ground as she tried to explain that she has always been against the Democrats and that the former president was not her favorite either.
Sarkar called Morgan an "incompetent journalist" who was trying to put words into her mouth. Co-host Susanna Reid supported Sarkar by asking Morgan "Why didn't you go out and march against Obama if you're so keen to protest against him?"
While Morgan didn't let Sarkar speak for more than a few seconds, in a special episode on Friday, Morgan was interviewing Steve Bannon whom he let speak for a full 40 seconds (without any interruptions) about Brexit, Trump and "elitism".
The former White House chief strategist voiced out his concern by stating that Trump feels "misled" over negotiations. He told the hosts, "My fear about your white paper is that the guys in Brussel last night already said that there's no chance that we accept this."
Viewers were enraged by Morgan's behavior towards Sarkar and most termed it "disgusting". One person tweeted: "I would like to say that @piersmorgan what you did on good morning Britain today with the trump protester was absolutely disgusting, I’ve seen you argue over people but this was a whole new level. I hope you feel really horrible about yourself. She came on there as a guest. [sic]"
Some even claimed that his differing interview techniques might be indicative of the fact that Morgan actually supported Trump. Another person tweeted: "Piers Morgan spent five minutes shouting over Ash yesterday, about something she wasn't even on the show to talk about, reducing her to an off-topic soundbite. Today, quiet, respectful and inviting Steve Bannon to say whatever he wanted on breakfast TV. This is the new normal."
Morgan, however, did not remain silent. He took to Twitter to explain exactly why he had given Bannon more time to speak. "Bannon answered questions. There is no need to continue demanding answers if guests do that." Huffington Post reported that the show was initially supposed to feature an interview with journalist and political commentator Owen Jones who was turned down just a day before the show after the two got into a heated argument. Jones, following Thursday's episode, commented on Twitter: "Do I bother going on Good Morning Britain tomorrow to listen to Piers Morgan verbally masturbating all over himself, or am I wasting my life?”
This is not the first time that Morgan had a clash with someone when it came to Donald Trump. On July 10, Morgan got into an argument with the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. Morgan accused Khan of being a hypocrite as he sort of issued a warning to Mayor, saying, "Should you not hold your tongue and be more respectful?” Khan replied saying, "I have held my tongue on the last four questions you and Susana have asked me about President Trump."
However, to keep things on a lighter track Khan mentioned that London is a city which flourishes in its diversity. He sent out a message to Trump saying, "I hope that during the course of the next two days in our city and in our country you’ll experience some of that diversity and you’ll realize it’s a strength not to be afraid of, but to be cherished."