Jon Snow calmly chastised a guest live on air for suggesting he “hates the Tories”, days after the veteran Channel 4 News presenter said he had “no recollection” whether he shouted anti-Conservative Party chants at Glastonbury.
Confronted by guest Matt Kilcoyne on Wednesday evening’s programme, Snow described a jibe as “unpleasant”.
Towards the end of a segment on austerity, Kilcoyne, of the right-wing Adam Smith Institute, quipped to Snow: “Not everyone hates the Tories as much as you do.”
Snow, who was sat off screen, was heard stammering, before saying: “You can say that but that is actually a very unpleasant thing to have done.”
Kilcoyne was appearing live on the news programme to argue austerity had been a success.
Viewers leapt to support the 69-year-old presenter.
Snow was this week forced to respond to claims by revellers at Glastonbury that he shouted “fuck the Tories” during the festival.
Pictures of the presenter among crowds carried the claims in captions.
Snow told HuffPost UK in a statement: “After a day at Glastonbury, I can honestly say I have no recollection of what was chanted, sung or who I took over 1,000 selfies with.”
On Tuesday, Labour MP Ben Bradshaw dismissed calls by Tory MP Andrew Bridgen for Snow to be sacked, saying: “Jon Snow has won more awards than any other British broadcaster. He interviews politicians without fear or favour.
“He and Channel Four won’t be worried about this silly call by Mr Bridgen. Mr Bridgen spends most of his time calling for people he doesn’t like to resign, including David Cameron in 2013 and the Commons’ highly popular Speaker, John Bercow, last year.”