Ryan Tubridy didn't hold back this morning as he compared the US riots – which saw Donald Trump-supporting protestors storm the nation's Capitol last night – to the fall of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein nearly two decades ago.
The RTE host was left aghast by what he called "extraordinary" scenes in Washington DC last night, condemning a "mob" of protesters after they descended on Washington to disrupt the transition to a Joe Biden presidency.
And he wondered aloud about how different the police response – which seemed to see armed guards taking a light-touch approach – would have been had the protesters been of "a different skin colour."
Tubs told listeners: "It reminded me of Baghdad, when Saddam [Hussein] was brought down, and remember people would go in and they'd grab stuff from the palace? Toilet fittings, and seats, and the speakers podium.
"And then I thought: So they're doing to Washington DC what the looters in Baghdad were doing.
"Not unlike Animal Farm, where the pigs become the farmers. And you think: okay, I thought you guys were meant to be the beacon. And suddenly the beacon was being thrashed by their own."
As celebrities across the world condemn the protests – with many arguing they represent an attack on democracy – Tubridy said they amount to the last dying gasp of a turbulent presidency.
"It's the last twitch of a dying monster, but it's destructive as it twitches," said the 47-year-old, who's known for his obsession with all things US politics.
While many worried about the potential for violence, though, Tubs insisted he never thought things were going to get that ugly.
"I didn't get a sense that it was going to be a bloodbath, I have to say. I thought: we're going to be okay here, because although they were a mob, they just didn't seem to be gun-toting.
"I didn't for a minute think it was a coup. I just thought it was unruly. And the police seemed either to decide to go easy, and not go in all guns themselves – and that might have helped matters.
"As someone was saying last night – I think Jake Tapper was saying: imagine if the people protesting were a different skin colour. I think the outcome would have been very, very different."
