Question Time audience left speechless as Fiona Bruce forced to step in
One audience member on BBC Question Time had her peers baffled as she brought up the Holocaust and diversity hiring in the same query.
Question Time: Fiona Bruce corrects herself over UK immigration figures
One Question Time audience member left her peers – and viewers at home – speechless as she aired a query, forcing host Fiona Bruce to step in.
The BBC panel were discussing US President Donald Trump’s claims that the Washington DC helicopter and plane crash was caused by diversity hiring. All 67 people involved when the Blackhawk collided with a passenger plane over the Potomac River.
Trump has now claimed a “diversity and inclusion hiring initiative” may have been responsible, stating at a press conference: “We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas. We have to have our smartest people. They have to be naturally talented geniuses.
“The FAA is actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency's website."
He went on to joke about “swimming” in the river where the tragedy occurred, adding: “I have a plan to visit – not the site. Because what – you tell me. What's the site? Water. We're going to go swimming."
The topic of debate on Question Time was whether the UK should follow in the US’s footsteps – and one audience member brought up Holocaust Memorial Day in her bizarre query.
She said: “It’s less than a week since the anniversary of the Auschwitz catastrophe. Haven’t we learned anything-“
But Fiona Bruce was forced to step in as she corrected: “It was Monday. Yeah. It was Monday.”
The guest then continued: “Haven’t we learned anything about the risks of using diversity as a measure by which we make decisions?”
Clearly stunned into silence, Fiona could only say: “Okay,” before handing over to the panel – but viewers were less than impressed by the tone. One X user said: “I’m not usually completely thick, but I couldn’t make any sense of that question at all.”
Someone else said: “I don’t even begin to understand the question.” Another viewer tried to stick up for the audience member, writing: “The kind interpretation is that she got so nervous when the camera was focused on her that her words came out wrong. Goodness knows what she was trying to say, though.”
And a different social media user chimed in: “Killer point stuns audience into silence,” while another echoed: “The looks on the faces of the audience!”
