Loose Women presenter Carol McGiffin has come under fire following her comments about the Donald Trump supporters who violently stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday.
Carol discussed the events in Washington DC with her fellow panellists during Thursdayās edition of the ITV daytime show, with many viewers surprised to hear her speak in defence of the rioters.
While she noted that āthe violence was just absolutely shocking and criminal damage is never acceptable for any reasonā she went on to say: āI do understand why the people were there.ā
ā[It] started off as a fairly peaceful protest,ā she told her co-hosts. āThese people are angry, and this is what happens when people get angry and itās what happens when people are not listened to.ā
Referring to Trumpās repeated false claims about the 2020 election result, Carol continued: āWhether or not you think, or I think, or anybody else thinks they have a case for the alleged fraud in the election, and whether or not you think, or I think, or anyone else thinks it was āstolenā from them ā theyāre not being heard. The evidence that they do have has not been heard by some of the courts.ā
āI understand the frustration of people when they do protest,ā she later added. āBut the point that some people ruin it for everybody else... it just defeats the object and takes away the message.ā
Carolās remarks quickly sparked a wave of responses on social media, with some claiming it was irresponsible of ITV to allow such comments to be aired:
HuffPost UK has contacted representatives for Carol McGiffin and Loose Women for comment.
Last year, Carol admitted that if she were a US citizen, sheād have voted for Trump in the 2020 election, saying: āIt actually really annoys me. I must say, if I was in America right now Iād rather have him as the president than someone who can barely remember his own name.
āI probably would vote for Donald Trump. There, Iāve said it.ā
A mob of angry Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol building on Wednesday, as Congress met to certify the results of the recent general election.
President-elect Joe Biden condemned the protestorsā insurrection, as rioters clashed with police and the heart of US democracy went into lockdown.
Four people have now been confirmed dead, including one woman who was shot by the US Capitol Police, and three others who died in āmedical emergenciesā.