Piers Morgan marks second anniversary as CNN host
Combative former Mirror editor Piers Morgan is celebrating his second anniversary in America having become the most talked about commentator in America and its second most followed journalist on Twitter, with 3.1m followers.
Morgan, who fronts CNN’s flagship Piers Morgan Tonight news magazine, has seen his fortunes pick up over the last two months after adopting a high-profile campaign to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines.
Despite the ratings fillip such a standpoint has lent him Morgan continues to trail rivals on Fox and MSNBC although he can take heart in being CNN’s most watched news presenter.
Two recent interviews in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting incident have gone viral, including a scene where Morgan lost his temper interviewing Larry Platt, head of Gun Owners of America and an on-air slugging match against Alex Jones, a Texan conspiracy theorist.
Speaking to The Times Morgan recalled the scene: “You have to go on gut feeling; react in the way people at home would,” he said. “Sometimes people say things that are so outrageous you have to lose your temper.
“The idea that more guns mean less crime – a whole load of nonsense.”