Tory chairman Richard Holden sparked disbelief as he tried to defend a misleading video of Sadiq Khan.
The Conservatives’ official account on X (formerly Twitter) posted the clip after the London mayor appeared on Sky News yesterday.
Referring to the row involving anti-Israel comments made by Labour’s candidate in the Rochdale by-election, Khan said: “As far as I’m concerned, that sort of language isn’t acceptable, and it certainly shouldn’t be acceptable in a party like mine, that is proud to be both anti-racist and anti-Semitic.”
He quickly corrected himself, adding: “I beg your pardon, tackling anti-Semitism.”
But the Tory video edited the footage so it did not include the mayor’s correction - prompting Khan to accuse them of being “in the gutter”.
On Times Radio this morning, Holden was grilled on the misleading post by presenter Calum Macdonald, who said: “I’ve asked you about the editing of a video that you’ve published.
“It is misinformation. It portrays something inaccurate to people online.”
Holden replied: “It highlights an issue of anti-Semitism at the heart of the Labour Party. And it’s not been edited, it’s been clipped.”
A clearly-stunned Macdonald replied: “That’s exactly the same thing.”
The Tory chairman responded: “No, it’s actually quite different.”
Laughing, the presenter then said: “I work in audio production, Mr Holden.”
The MP replied: “Well I think we both know the difference between editing something to misconstrue it or clipping something.”
Leading Tories are among those who have condemned the misleading post.
They include government minister Kevin Hollinrake, who told BBC’s Newsnight programme it was “not something I would have done”.