Piers Morgan has called BBC journalist John Simpson a “pompous old prune” after the broadcaster said his interview with US President Donald Trump was nothing more than “showbiz”.
Simpson took to Twitter to criticise Morgan’s one-on-one with Trump, which aired on ITV on Sunday at 10pm pulling in 3m viewers (although this was less than BBC News at 3.9m).
Reviews were mixed for Morgan’s approach to the interview, with some labelling it “toe curlingly fawning” while others defended the fact that he was able to get access to interview Trump.
Below is the exchange between the two veteran journalists…
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Simpson: “The art of the political interview, Piers, is to push your interviewee hard – not let them spout self-evident tosh. That’s just showbiz.”
Morgan: “The BBC led on revelations from my interview all Friday morning, and Andrew Marr said yesterday it had made real news. So it would appear you’re the one spouting tosh, you pompous old prune.”
Simpson: “Pompous, probably. Old, undeniably. Prune, quite possibly. But I don’t enjoy watching spineless political interviews.”
Morgan: “You once claimed live on air that the BBC (you!) had liberated Kabul, you egotistical charlatan. So please spare me the journalism lectures.”
Simpson: “Poor old Piers – sounds like you need more than a journalism lecture.”
Morgan has been appearing on various media programmes throughout the day to talk about his interview with Trump.
Picture: Reuters/Hannah McKay
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