Piers Morgan mocked as GMB host forced to delete embarrassing tweet attacking Matt Hancock
PIERS MORGAN has been hit with a backlash on Twitter after he falsely accused Health Secretary Matt Hancock of flouting social distancing rules and not wearing a mask in public, posting an old photo of the minister enjoying a parkour session.
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The Good Morning Britain presenter was accused of trying to whip up opposition to the Government with careless tweets that he "doesn't even bother checking" for accuracy. Mr Morgan retweeted one of Mr Hancock's tweets, showing the Tory politician posing with Frenchman Sebastien Fouca, who is considered one of the early developers of parkour.
But the 55-year-old forgot to check one key detail of the tweet - the fact that it had been posted on July 2, 2018.
Retweeting the dated tweet to his 7.6 million followers, Mr Morgan said: "Health Secretary wears no mask & practises no social distancing, to boast about jumping 3ft off a small wall."
His tweet seems to have since been deleted.
Twitter users were quick to hit out at Mr Morgan over the embarrassing blunder.
One person said: "As normal, Piers Morgan jumping the gun before checking things properly!"
A second person said: "Awkward one Piers Morgan - check the date."
And yet a third said: "Never did like real photos did you Piers unless it's got a false date and headline."
TalkRadio's Julia Hartley-Brewer responded to the tweet with a simple "lol".
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One woman questioned: "Has he deleted it & pretending it never happened?"
And one even pressed Mr Morgan on whether he would issue an apology to Mr Hancock over the blunder.
They wrote: "Hey Piers, as usual you just jump in without knowing the facts.
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"I think you will find the clue in the date.
"No, please, there is no need to apologise. Or is there?
"I'll leave that with you then Piers."
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Mr Morgan has been a fierce critic of Boris Johnson and his Cabinet since the coronavirus epidemic broke out in the UK earlier this year.
The ITV show presenter last week went off in a rage at Mr Hancock over COVID-19 testing.
His rant was in relation to comments Mr Hancock made in a BBC interview.
The minister explained why data on how many people were being tested for coronavirus had not been published for five weeks - which infuriated Mr Morgan.
Addressing the health secretary live on air in the hope that he was watching Good Morning Britain, Mr Morgan said: "What are you talking about health secretary?
"What could be a more important bit of data than how many people are being tested?!"