Emily Maitlis has said it is “quite patronising” to assume BBC Newsnight viewers “couldn’t handle” interviews with controversial figures, such as Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon.

Her 26-minute interview with the former head of so-called “alt-right” website Breitbart News, which aired in May last year, drew criticism online, with some claiming it served to promote Bannon’s ideology.

“People can make up their own minds,” Maitlis told the Observer. “They’re smart and thoughtful and if they want to be critical of it, that’s fine.