Jacob Rees-Mogg today clashed with a BBC presenter after he was questioned over his decision to tweet a speech by a far-right politician.
In a testy exchange with Radio 4 Today’s Mishal Hussain, Mr Rees-Mogg was taken to task over his sharing of an address given by Alternative fur Deutschland’s (AfD) Dr Alice Weidel, who hit out at Brussels over its handling of Brexit.
Mr Rees-Mogg, who has not deleted Monday’s tweet, was asked to clarify whether he backed any of the AfD’s views other than Brexit. The AfD is the main opposition in Germany, running on an anti-immigration and anti-Islam agenda.
The Brexit hardliner instead rounded on BBC correspondent James Naughtie, who had previously quoted a source as saying the European Research Group of Tory MPs – which Mr Rees-Mogg chairs – was comparable to the AfD and France’s National Front.
In the strained exchange, Mr Rees-Mogg told Ms Hussain: “You must be patient and not interrupt so much because the answer needs to be given properly.
“The BBC does have this obsession. What Mr Naughtie said was an outrageous slur and he wasn’t challenged by whoever was interviewing him – that wasn’t raised, which seems to me a matter of competence.
“When Mr Naughtie quotes someone and it’s not his view, that’s fine? But when I quote somebody and it’s not my view, that’s a great shock.
“That seems to be typical of the Today programme’s leftie approach and obsession with this issue.”
Meanwhile, Mr Rees-Mogg made his unhappiness with Prime Minister Theresa May known on Wednesday, describing her offer to negotiate Brexit with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as "deeply unsatisfactory".
He accused Mrs May of planning to collaborate with "a known Marxist”, while claiming Remainers had taken control of Brexit and were "disenfranchising Leave voters".
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