Andrew Pierce has come under criticism from viewers of Good Morning Britain (GMB) due to a point he made on the programme related to the recent far-right riots.
The consultant editor of the Daily Mail is a regular guest on the ITV show, and was discussing the latest news on riots that have swept England and Northern Ireland in the last week.
In the wake of three girls being killed at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on Monday, July 29 violent disorder has taken place, with buildings and cars set alight, projectiles thrown at mosques, police attacked and hotels believed to be housing asylum seekers targeted.
People at these riots have made Islamophobic chants against immigration and ones in support of Tommy Robinson and the EDL (English Defence League).
'The way you deal with bad ideas is by putting forward good ideas.' Baroness Warsi tells @kategarraway and @edballs that 'dialogue has got to be the basis of everything' and she refuses to accept that 'there is this sense of us and them.' pic.twitter.com/lBPDrJ8xZo
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) August 6, 2024
One strand of this story has been a war of words between Prime Minister Keir Starmer and X (formerly known as Twitter) founder Elon Musk.
In a comment on his social media site below a video of rioters setting off fireworks at police, Musk said "civil war is inevitable".
This was quickly rejected by the Prime Minister's spokesperson, who said there is "no justification for comments like that" and "anyone who is whipping up violence online will face the full force of the law".
Musk then replied to a social media post from Starmer which criticised violence towards Muslims, saying: "Shouldn't you be concerned about attacks on *all* communities?".
This was discussed on GMB with Pierce believing there was an element of truth to Musk's point, relating it to marches that have taken place this year in support of Palestine.
He said: "While I completely deplore what he [Musk] said, there is a point when he said all communities should be protected.
As far right racists conduct pogroms on the streets, Daily Mail 'journalist' Andrew Pierce draws an equivalence between them & people marching peacefully in support of Palestinians and against genocide #GMB pic.twitter.com/QYnlAuWNzd
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) August 6, 2024
"If you talk to a lot of Jewish people for weeks now they've avoided central London because they've not felt safe, because of those marches pro-Gaza where there is openly antisemitic language, openly antisemitic signs and flags, and they do not feel safe.
"I've talked to them personally. Obviously, what's going on at the moment that's being targeted on the Muslim community [is] appalling but I do think that's why you get questions."
Host Kate Garraway briefly interrupted to make a point before Pierce continued to say it could give the "perception of two-tier policing".
Good Morning Britain viewers criticise Andrew Pierce for comments
Some GMB viewers were not happy with Pierce's comments which they claimed made a comparison between the current riots and marches in support of Palestine.
One person posted on X: "Absolutely disgraceful to attempt to draw such a comparison but of little surprise."
Another shared: "He is trying to manufacture more fuel to add to the fire. British media is just trash on fire, day in, day out."
Meanwhile, another wrote: "MSM propaganda machines are one of the root causes of these racist attacks on minorities in the UK. Plus there’s no comparison between the peaceful protests in support of Palestine to the racist riots."
Viewers also described the point as "ill informed sensationalist lies" and that Pierce was "sounding confused".
