Nigel Farage got some real shit for not wearing a poppy when he skipped Remembrance Sunday to meet US president-elect Donald Trump.
The on/off UKIP leader was pictured grinning in a gold-plated lift alongside the former US Apprentice host Trump, now the World’s Most Powerful Man… WITHOUT A POPPY.
Whether you see it as a tiny oversight or an act of grand treason, it made people mad.
His appearance without a poppy, as Britain remembered its war dead, incurred the wrath of Twitter… probably more a mixture of mock ‘Poppy Fascism’ and annoyance at the gross hypocrisy of Farage than anything.
https://twitter.com/jonp__/status/797867955774230528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The hypocrisy. "Men of the people" in a gold lift, one of whom isn't an MP AND ISN'T WEARING A POPPY ON REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY! #Trump #Farage pic.twitter.com/DnZYcKKRZj
— Matthew Stogdon (@stoghz) November 13, 2016
But Sky News obviously weren’t ready to let the issue drop.
One of the other men in that lift photo was Raheem Kassam, editor of ultra-conservative site Breitbart News London.
He was brought onto the show to talk about Farage’s visit to Trump Towers; the prominent Brexit campaigner was the first British politician meet the incoming US president.
But what followed was just two-and-a-half agonising minutes of Sky News host Dermot Murnaghan grilling Kassam about why he himself hadn’t been wearing a poppy for the visit.
.@RaheemKassam explains why he wasn't wearing a #poppy during his visit with Nigel Farage to the United States https://t.co/mrB6VaUurS
— Sky News Tonight (@SkyNewsTonight) November 14, 2016
One question would have sufficed, but this is Sky News we’re talking about. Kassam’s excuse was that the poppy he had been wearing was on his other coat and had become tatty through wear.
That didn’t stop Murnaghan pressing the issue another five times, with Kassam pointing out that he made a donation of £300 to the Royal British Legion, adding ”it isn’t just about the poppies but about helping these charities financially as well”.
The bizarre exchange, dressed up as news reporting, was only brought to an end when Murnaghan was put on the back foot about why some Sky News presenters don’t wear poppies.
The hypocrisy, the faux outrage and the general ridiculousness of it all wasn’t lost on some viewers though…
https://twitter.com/richtarver/status/798275700486766592
https://twitter.com/LNJStokes/status/798283732012519424
as a member of the Royal Legion donations and being involved matter more than the poppy.
— Chris Tomlinson (@TomlinsonCJ) November 14, 2016
I would really like to know why sky staff chose NOT to wear a #poppy
— Diamond Geezer (@diamondgezzer59) November 14, 2016
who does Murnaghan think he is? Outrageous line of questioning and made himself look ridiculous.
— Mark (@Formerlyhappy) November 14, 2016
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