Piers Morgan has come to the defence of fellow breakfast TV presenter Naga Munchetty, after the BBC ruled that she breached their guidelines with a comment she made about Donald Trump.
BBC Breakfast presenter Naga made headlines following an off-script moment in July, when she said she was “absolutely furious” about tweets Trump had posted regarding four Democratic politicians, suggesting they should “go back” to their home countries.
Naga said on air that she had been the recipient of similar comments on a number of occasions, stating: “Every time I have been told, as a woman of colour, to go back to where I came from, that was embedded in racism.
“Now, I’m not accusing anyone of anything here, but you know what certain phrases mean.”
After the BBC’s ruling was announced, many people shared their disappointment with the decision on Twitter, including Piers.
He wrote: “Since the BBC will gag my breakfast show rival @BBCNaga from saying anything about this, allow me: it’s bloody ridiculous.”
Referring to her words as “powerful and necessary” he called the decision: “Shameful censorship.”
The BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) said in an official statement on Wednesday: “The ECU ruled that while Ms Munchetty was entitled to give a personal response to the phrase ‘go back to your own country’ as it was rooted in her own experience, overall her comments went beyond what the guidelines allow for.”
The tweets in question had been posted by Trump about US politicians Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley. All four of these are US citizens, and three of them were born in America.