The far-right and its cheerleaders love publicity. Only not the kind of publicity that involves them having to answer questions about their past utterances and sympathies. Those kinds of questions are streng verboten, and especially for upmarket racist bigot Doug Murray The K, whose appearance on the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme was one of those campaigns destined to turn out not necessarily to his advantage.
Murray was being interviewed by host Nick Robinson: knowing he was going to be quizzed by a former Beeb political editor might have given him a clue that this was not going to be a softball walk in the park. But when the straightforward quote from his past came up, he was so woefully unprepared that he lost his cool big time.
Evening all
He lost it so badly that the Daily Brexit, sometimes still called the Express, found it necessary to go in to bat for him. “Political commentator Douglas Murray lashed out at BBC host Nick Robinson for raising an old quote of his where he said “we need less Islam”. Mr Murray argued this was a ‘typical BBC gang up’, to take a random quote out of context and attempt to surprise right-wing guests with it on air. He added that this quotation was off-topic as they were intending to discuss former US President Barack Obama's speech regarding woke and cancel culture”. What a wuss.
Who says it’s “off topic”? Robinson wondered what Murray’s problem was. “Just to clarify, and I am directly quoting you as saying the words: We need to have less Islam. I am not sure why you are offended by me quoting you?” Well, quite. What say Doug?
“I am not offended by you quoting me, lots of people would be offended by the notion … I am offended by you doing a weird typical BBC gang up thing where you decide to go one person on the right and not somebody on the left … I am very happy to defend my words”. The words are still big. It’s the interviews that got small.
The reaction told you who had enjoyed the best of that exchange, with Michael Rosen musing “Sizzling sound as Douglas Murray roasted”. Samantha Batra, meanwhile, wasn’t impressed with Doug even before the meltdown: “Douglas Murray invoking Obama. That’s rich”. Another Tweeter just found it enjoyable. "Absolutely glorious to hear Douglas Murray be totally hung out to dry on Today just now. Really, brilliant stuff”.
One commenter was prophetic in his response: “Murray will definitely get today's 'most triggered' award. He totally lost it. Such a fragile ego. He will spend the rest of the day telling everyone that the BBC was 'so unfair' to him”. Simon Thorp added “Now I’ve heard it all! [Nick Robinson] and [BBC News] accused on the Today Programme by Spectator and Sun hack Douglas Murray of ganging up on the right and not letting him have his say”.
The Tweeter known as @snigskitchen pointed out that Robinson was not “off topic”: “Today Douglas Murray said on Radio 4 ‘there should be less Islam’. He's an Islamophobe. But he's also racist: ‘London has become a foreign country. In 23 of London’s 33 boroughs “white Britons” are now in a minority,’ implying brown people aren't British”. Quite.
Meanwhile, Murray has gone running to the increasingly alt-right Spectator. “What happened when I was ambushed by Nick Robinson on the Today programme. By Douglas Murray”. No link will be provided, because Murray’s blubbering is paywalled.
Moreover, Jonathan Portes felt the need to point out “‘Ambushed’ here meaning ‘accurately quoted saying that we need “less Islam”, we should ban Muslims from migrating to the UK, black or Asian people born in the UK are “foreign”’, etc, etc”.
Douglas Murray has had two invites to the Today Programme in the past month. He’s done all right for a racist bigot, however upmarket he may be considered.
And now he’s been rumbled. Some people don’t like racists. Get over it.
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Times are bad for the far right when notorious tory Robinson starts asking quite straightforward questions. A task he has avoided for the last two decades.
ReplyDeleteLong may it continue.
Douglas Murray is a clever and considerate man, try reading his books.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes if we want peace, we need less Islam. It's not racist it's statistically true.
@06:13
ReplyDeleteIf there were no Islamic countries that western forces could bomb, they'd be no revenge attacks.
btw: Douglas Murray is a vile shit.
This is a very poorly considered piece. Please read some of Murrays work before commenting in such an intellectually dishonest way
ReplyDeleteAgree. This piece reads like playground bully talk.
DeleteAnonymous, what a shallow, ignorant comment! Islam has been attacking everyone around it since its inception.The word 'revenge' implies a justified reaction to a wrong suffered, so it is'nt appropriate. Educate yourself on Islam before you jump to its defence. The world does need less of it and less of the fanaticism and violence that are hard-wired into its DNA.
ReplyDelete@18:29
ReplyDeleteWhy is it 'revenge' when hundreds of thousands want to kill Muslims following 9/11 and kill Japanese following Pearl Harbor but blame a religion for Lockerbie?
I have no reason to educate myself further about genocidal maniacs and their ignorant, bigoted followers.
"When and if fascism comes to America it will not be labelled ‘made in Germany’; it will not be marked with a swastika; it will not even be called fascism; it will be called, of course, ‘Americanism’ " - New York Times September 12, 1938.
Does a country have Islamic terrorism:
ReplyDeleteA) because it has large numbers of Muslims, or
B) because its government has recently attacked a Muslim-majority country.
Japan: No A. No B. No Islamic terrorism.
Poland: No A. Yes B. No Islamic terrorism.
France: Yes A. No B. Has Islamic terrorism.
Germany: Yes A. No B. Has Islamic terrorism.
Sri Lanka: Yes A. No B. Has Islamic terrorism.
UK: Yes A. Yes B. Has Islamic terrorism.
@ 18:29 and 19:43.
ReplyDeleteI suggest you read up the history of Christianity and its role in colonialism and the Holocaust.
It seems you have an awful lot to learn.