Piers Morgan Issues Mea Culpa to Fox Audience For Past Gun Coverage on CNN: ‘I Should Be Respectful’
Piers Morgan is changing his tune on guns, or at least the way he talks about them. The vocal gun control advocate was confronted by Fox News’ Sean Hannity about his more fiery gun control lectures from the past, and Morgan revealed he’d be more “respectful” in those debates if he could do it all again.
At the tail end of the Fox News interview on Monday, Hannity brought up a recent tense moment between Morgan and comedian Bill Maher after Maher referred to Queen Elizabeth as an “old bag,” prompting a defense of the Queen from Morgan.
“You and I would joke anytime you were on and you took over for Larry King and you were lecturing Americans on the Second Amendment and guns, I was like, that’s good for me because it’s a part of American culture that you might not understand, and I get that,” Hannity said. “If I were to go over and do a show in Great Britain and start saying, ‘why are you calling the Royal Family ‘your heinous,’ ‘your majesty’ … as an American, I just don’t get the whole Royal thing and I’m not calling anybody ‘Your Majesty’ or Your Heinous’ except God and Jesus.”
Hannity is referring to the period Morgan spent hosting Piers Morgan Live, which replaced the long-running Larry King Live on CNN. During the three-year run, Morgan got into multiple heated exchanges with guests over topics such as gun control. He is now hosting Piers Morgan Uncensored, a show that streams on Fox Nation, Fox News’ streaming service.
In response to Hannity, Morgan admitted to being “irritated” with Maher’s comment and said he felt a need to stand up for “my Queen.” The moment helped highlight the differing cultures, Morgan said, he insisted that he’d do his gun control coverage “differently” if he could go back, wanting to be more respectful of the different culture in the U.S. on guns compared to Britain.
“I would do it differently if I had my time again because I think you’ve got to be mindful if you’re a Brit in a foreign country like America that America has its own culture, and it has a strong gun culture,” he said, adding he doesn’t feel “comfortable” with that culture coming from Britain.
Morgan continued by admitting he may have been too “overbearing” in his coverage on the topic when he was hosting Piers Morgan Live.
“I do think I went about it perhaps in a very overbearing way, trying to tell Americans how to lead their lives, and you’re right, if you try to do that with our Royal Family on British TV, you’d be run out of town … I should be respectful of Americans’ right to lead their lives how they wish to lead them,” he said.
