Richard Madeley just asked his dumbest and most offensive question yet
Richard Madeley, the non-thinking person’s Alan Partridge, has a regular gig as the co-host of ITV’s Good Morning Britain (spare a thought for Susanna Reid, spared Piers Morgan only to end up with Madeley).
And it has produced no end of (presumably unintentionally) facepalm moments and exchanges where Madeley is either comprehensively owned by a guest or does it all by himself.
But we don’t remember a dumber or more offensive question asked by the presenter than this one on Tuesday.
He was talking to senior Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, who is of Palestinian descent, when this happened.
Richard Madeley asks British Palestinian MP Layla Moran if she or her family knew about Hamas's attack before it happened #GMB pic.twitter.com/guUptvdlGk
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) October 17, 2023
Richard Madeley: “With your family connections in Gaza, did you have any indication of what was going to happen 10 days ago … was there any word on the street?”
Layla Moran: “Not this, not this. Everyone, everyone has been surprised first of all by the timing and sophistication and they way that it’s happened.”
Extraordinary restraint from Moran, you might think. And here are just a few of the many, many things people were saying about it on Tuesday.
This is just totally unbelievable from Richard Madeley. #GMB https://t.co/zvq792uAuF
— Haggis_UK (@Haggis_UK) October 17, 2023
In which Newsnight Alan Partridge casually asks a British MP with Palestinian heritage whether her ‘family connections’ gave her advance warning of Hamas’s massacre. Call this what it is: racism. He should unreservedly apologise or be taken off air.
pic.twitter.com/XI39efElPQ— Jonathan Lis (@jonlis1) October 17, 2023
Did you, a British Palestinian woman, know about something that caught the intelligence service of one of the most advanced militaries in the world off guard? https://t.co/KDL89W9ngo
— Leigh Jones (@leighsus) October 17, 2023
feel like promoting Madeley beyond his usual beat – interviewing someone whose dog looks like the queen, or the grower of Britain's largest turnip – was a mistake https://t.co/3NxE1BxaCn
— Stefan Mohamed (@stefmowords) October 17, 2023
Torn between thinking this guy is so dangerously stupid he should be nowhere near this topic and thinking that it's useful that he makes explicit the racist logic of a lot of media opinion. https://t.co/34ITH4AChP
— James B (@piercepenniless) October 17, 2023
Layla Moran handled this situation with remarkable composure and dignity but Richard Madeley should apologise or be taken off air @GMB. Appalling question. https://t.co/POAxTk1bkl
— Liz Jarvis (@LizJarvisUK) October 17, 2023
We've gone from demanding Palestinians condemn Hamas to politely asking 'Are you Hamas?' https://t.co/rAr0r7AtTn
— Aamer Rahman (@aamer_rahman) October 17, 2023
Alan Partridge’s stunt double Richard Madeley actually asking Layla Moran if her family had prior knowledge of the Hamas attack on Israel is the point at which he needs retiring and relocating to Gobshite News where idiocy and insult is king
Twat
— Stuzi (@stuzi_pants) October 17, 2023
If you want to watch a longer clip …
Witnessing Richard Madeley's brain work is like watching a ferry doing a three-point turn. https://t.co/LOGjgSDFpP
— HENRY MORRIS (@mrhenrymorris) October 17, 2023
In three words.
What a Bellend https://t.co/rrrUPwvFj4
— Dom Joly (@domjoly) October 17, 2023
And finally, this.
Huge respect to Layla Moran for staying so composed…
…as Richard Madeley vapidly puts to her that it’s OK for food & water to be withheld from her family – as leverage by the Israeli govt on Hamas terrorists.
Stay strong Layla. And everyone else caught in this horror. https://t.co/zjzLFn5nhX
— Mike Galsworthy (@mikegalsworthy) October 17, 2023
Source @SaulStaniforth
