Richard Madeley was strongly chastised online by Good Morning Britain viewers for a question he asked a panel on Monday concerning the continuing Israel-Hamas crisis.
The 67-year-old broadcaster was co-hosting the ITV show with Susanna Reid, 52, when he made a comparison between the Middle Eastern turmoil and Nazi Germany.
His contentious question emerged while debating possible solutions to the crisis that began on October 7 when Palestinian terrorist group Hamas initiated assaults on Israel, resulting in a hostile scenario that has killed at least 2,100 lives on both sides.
Turning to an assembled panel of fellow journalists, the host was heard saying: ‘I read in many of the Sunday papers yesterday parallels with the second world war – not just the holocaust – but with what the Allies, the Americans, the British, the free French did when they invaded Europe in 1944 and defeated the Nazis by going into Germany.
‘In doing so, by going into Germany, quite apart from the bombing campaigns that the RAF and the American Air Force launched, a lot of German civilians were killed.
‘Nobody at the time made any excuses or apologies for that but they just saw it as a necessary evil – is that a fair parallel?’
.@itvnews i never want to see richard madeley on your station ever again.
almost 1,000 palestinian children have been murdered by the hands of their occupier. invading the nazis is not an equivalent. https://t.co/EQazwKVI57
— mike 🚩🇵🇸🔻 (@__mike91) October 16, 2023
Susanna quickly interjected with: ‘I think we’ve moved on, haven’t we, from those times?’
Fans took to social media to slam the broadcaster for equating the two events, calling Richard’s comparison “absurd.”
One typed on X: ‘The comparison is wrong and absurd in every way. Think it through before adding fuel to the fire.’
Another added: ‘The fact that this view is expressed on mainstream tv in England is chilling. This is where we are at.’
‘Someone should tell Richard Madeley that human beings are supposed to evolve in order to become better. Is it a fair parallel? No,’ an angry social media user wrote after hearing Richard’s question.
It goes without saying that nobody should be taking history lessons from Richard Madeley.
— Paul Tomlinson (@PaulTomlinsonn) October 16, 2023
More responses flooded in with a viewer exclaiming: ‘@itvnews i never want to see richard madeley on your station ever again.
‘Almost 1,000 palestinian children have been murdered by the hands of their occupier. invading the nazis is not an equivalent.’
An audience member further added: ‘Hey @GMB this is absolutely abhorrent & if you had any moral compass, or regulation, you’d apologise for these statements made & this man would be out of a Job.
‘Playing down historical War Crimes & justifying Genocide on National TV is Beyond disgusting.’
The question came before of a scheduled speech by Rishi Sunak, who will later talk with MPs on the rising crisis in Israel and Gaza as legislators return to Westminster amid the renewed war.
A week after Hamas terrorists launched a devastating attack on the country, Palestinians in Gaza are bracing for an Israeli invasion.
After a weekend that saw increased international attempts to keep the dispute from going further, the Prime Minister is slated to pay a visit to the Jewish community on Monday morning.
