BBC Radio 4’s flagship Today programme has defended its decision to discuss Donald Trump’s racist Britain First tweets with controversial American far-right polemicist Ann Coulter.
Coulter was interviewed by show host Nick Robinson just after the 8am news, in a slot normally reserved for the programme’s big interviews.
The ex-lawyer is one of a handful of people Trump follows on Twitter. She’s best known for her call in 2001 for the American government to invade Muslim countries, “kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.”
It’s believed Trump saw the Britain First videos on her Twitter feed before he then shared them with his 4.5 million followers.
Robinson said the interview with the extreme right-winger was to help explain the actions of President Trump.
He tweeted: “One lesson of Trump tweet = careful what you like & share on social media. You may be giving racists & extremists the publicity they crave.
“For those criticising @BBCr4today for interviewing @AnnCoulter – we did so to reveal & explain & scrutinise the source of the Trump tweet.”
Coulter told Robinson that it was ridiculous to expect Trump to check out who he was sharing on Twitter before he shared them.
She also seemed to suggest any immigrant or any descendant of an immigrant should not be trusted, especially if they look foreign.
Coulter defended Trump’s heated response to Theresa May, saying: “I think he has only given as good as he gets.
“I think he has been verbally attacked from the mother country for a lot longer than he has been attacking Britain, starting with that petition to ban him.”
SNP MP Joanna Cherry tweeted: “Please @BBCr4today is it really necessary to have an extended interview in your top slot with such a hate filled bigoted ignoramus as @AnnCoulter? It’s too much.”
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