Richard Madeley called out Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi on Good Morning Britain on Monday morning, with his co-host Susanna Reid also forced to repeat a question - unsatisfied with his response about the latest 'partygate' allegations.
The government minister appeared on ITV's GMB amid calls for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resign, over the recent reports regarding parties at Downing Street when the country was facing restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.
After he admitted spending 25 minutes at a No10 garden party in the height of lockdown, Johnson issued an apology but he faces calls to step down.
In the latest revelations, officials in No10 allegedly drank late into the night as they said farewell to their top spin doctor and one of the Tories photographers.
It follows a long list of reported parties at No10 during times of restrictions in England, and times where Covid cases and deaths were rising.
On GMB on Monday, Richard and Susanna grilled their guest over whether he believed Johnson should remain as the Prime Minister after the government scandal, especially after his own attendance to a party.
Zahawi refused to be drawn into the question until "the facts" were revealed in the ongoing investigation, currently underway by Sue Gray.
While he suggested that any breaking of the law should be dealt with, whether the person was Prime Minister or not, he refused to comment on calls for Johnson to resign.
This led to Richard accusing him of "swerving" the topic, with Susanna also repeating the question three times.
Zahawi accused Susanna of trying to make him "pre-judge" the investigation, which she denied, before asking him the same thing "one more time".
Susanna said it was "very easy for someone to apologise" when they've been caught out, and added the accusation is that Johnson "has fostered a culture where people could get away with this".
Zahawi turned the conversation to Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, saying he was "disappointed" he didn't apologise over a separate drinks event.
He then said the investigation will "evidence" any wrongdoing, before suggesting Johnson will have to come to parliament with a plan on how to deal with it.
Later, Richard asked if rules were confirmed to be broken and were criminal, should Johnson step down as PM.
Zahawi said: "That's a hypothetical if. We have to wait for the evidence...."
Richard interrupted: "But he's admitted it, he's admitted he was at the party."
Zahawi carried on: "...you don't condemn a man before you see the evidence, it's the only right thing to do."
Richard repeated Johnson had confessed to being at a party and gave his reasons, adding: "He confessed so we know he was there, everybody knows the party was a breach of the law."
The guest was then asked again whether Johnson should resign, with him saying: "He thought he was going out to motivate his workers.
"He said, ‘I implicitly thought I was going out to motivate the staff.’ Secondly, on the big decision, the big calls, you look at what he did on the vaccine programme which I led…"
It's then that Richard accused him of swerving the question, telling him: "What I like about you and what I like about interviewing you, you usually answer the question straight, and you're swerving this one..."
As he hit back, Susanna intervened and said: "Let’s park the vaccine roll out," suggesting Conservative MPs always bring it up during interviews.
Susanna went on: "If he's found to have broken the law, broken the rules that everybody was else sticking to and many people were fined by the way for breaking, should he resign?"
Zahawi replied: "I would wait to see if the investigation does find that, let's make sure we wait for that," before adding Johnson was "human" and "made a mistake"
Susanna then said: "Let us put it in a different way, if the Prime Minister has broken the law, should they stay as Prime Minister?"
Zahawi accused: "You are trying to get me to say that, you’re trying to get me to pre-judge the investigation. I’m not going to do that, Susanna."
Susanna replied: "No I am not, Nadhim Zahawi I am not doing that. I am asking you a very simple question, if a Prime Minister has broken the law, should they still be Prime Minister?"
Susanna then repeated it two more times, with Zahawi arguing: "Anybody who’s broken the law, and the Prime Minister does not believe he has broken the law, he made it very clear to parliament that he implicitly thought he was going out to motivate his staff, then that is a very different case.
"Anyone who’s broken the law should face the consequences of the trial, that is what we do as a country…
"The investigation into the allegations has to report back and I’ll happily come back on your programme and talk about this. The Prime Minister’s pledged to submit himself to parliament and deliver a statement to parliament and be probed by parliament - we live in a parliamentary democracy… when that report comes back."
Susanna then asked one more time, still not happy with the response, to which the guest said: "I just said to you anybody, not just the Prime Minister, anyone who has broken the law has to face the consequences and be prosecuted for it.
"You can’t stay a Member of Parliament if you have broken the law. So the answer is plain and simple, nobody’s above the law."
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV.
