'You're losing the plot': Piers Morgan blasts Laurence Fox for comparing taking the knee with Nazi salutes

Piers Morgan has slammed controversial actor Laurence Fox again, this time over suggesting footballers taking the knee was comparable to tolerating a Nazi salute.

The Good Morning Britain host tweeted over the weekend to criticise Millwall supporters who booed at a match against Derby when players from both teams took the knee to show solidarity against racism.

Read more: Laurence Fox scolded by The Pogues over Fairytale Of New York edit complaint

Lewis actor Fox responded by calling the players’ action “a gesture of subservience and submission” and later tweeted an image of the 1938 England football team lining up for a Nazi salute captioned: “It’s happened before... Appeasement is the incorrect choice.”

Outraged, Morgan replied: “You’re comparing taking the knee as a protest against racial injustice to appeasing Nazis? SERIOUSLY??? Get a grip Laurence - you’re losing the plot.”

Watch: Piers Morgan slams Laurence Fox for breaking lockdown rules

Replying to Morgan’s comment telling him to get a grip, Fox tweeted: “Which football team do you stand in moral judgment on? The one that did what they were told, or the other one who did what they were told? It’s a complex argument. It does need discussion. Steel man my argument.”

He added: “This is how these things start. A moral superiority begins to pervade and your certain agreement is demanded. Moral authority however, is a shared and great event, achieved via means we can’t ever imagine. Moral superiority should not be mistaken for moral authority.”

But Morgan argued that no one was being forced to take part in the gesture.

He tweeted: “Nobody's forcing anyone to take the knee. We live in a democracy. It would just be nice if those who did kneel to protest racial injustice, especially black footballers, weren't booed & jeered by racist morons. You're fuelling these bigots with your absurd false equivalence.”

Fox tweeted: “Help me to understand then? The overwhelming majority in the UK are colourblind according to the polling. We are amongst the most welcoming tolerant societies on earth. Do you believe there is systemic racism in the UK? If so, what do you believe we should do about it?”

But Morgan refused to let him get away with the controversial comments claiming the Millwall fans were “just normal, logical people”, tweeting: “They booed one of their own black players kneeling to protest racial injustice. They are bigoted morons & if you support them, then so are you.”

The argument descended into Fox accusing Morgan of presenting himself as “our moral superior”, before vowing to make a Good Morning Britain appearance to defend his views – although Morgan pointed out that the show had been stood up by him once before.

This isn’t the first time that Morgan has protested against Fox’s outspoken opinions – last week, he denounced the actor on Good Morning Britain for proudly flouting COVID lockdown rules.

Fox had tweeted that he had enjoyed a lunch with a large group of pals, who he had hugged, during England’s recent national lockdown and claimed that “if the NHS can’t cope, then it isn’t fit for purpose”.

The actor has been dropped by his agent this year due to a rant about racism and has been threatened with legal action by a number of people he accused of paedophilia on Twitter.

He made an appearance on Morgan’s ITV show earlier in the year to defend his comments, but dropped out of his most recent booking at the last minute.

Watch: Laurence Fox defends controversial views on Good Morning Britain