Richard Madeley has faced backlash after asking a grieving father whose daughter was killed in the Sandy Hook massacre whether he had experienced 'revenge fantasies' towards conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
Robbie Parker appeared on Good Morning Britain to discuss the defamation trial against Infowars founder Alex Jones, who was ordered to pay nearly $1 billion to families of the victims. Parker's six-year-old daughter Emilie was among the 26 people killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.
During the interview, Madeley asked: 'From one father to another, I know that I would be unable to control revenge fantasies going way beyond damages in a court of law. How do you cope with them because you must have them?'
Parker responded: 'Yeah, I'm a human being where my mind can wander into those places but those are the same realms that Alex Jones and Alex Jones' listeners go into so I really try not to spend so much time there.' He added that he focuses on his family's healing and continuing the love and joy Emilie brought.
Viewers criticised Madeley's line of questioning on social media, with one tweeting: 'Oh my god Richard Madeley is awful. Asking a poor bereaved dad what revenge fantasies he had?!' Another wrote: 'Richard talks about revenge fantasies at f*****g 7:30.'
Parker also detailed how harassment began within 48 hours of the shooting, with false claims that he was a crisis actor. Madeley appeared shocked, saying: 'I didn't realise it was that soon to be honest with you.'
