Former Republican U.S. Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell walked out of an interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan Thursday, calling Mr. Morgan “rude” for his questions related to Ms. O’Donnell’s past statements.
Pressed by Mr. Morgan as to why she began to become “so weird” when questions concerning gay rights were presented, Ms. O’Donnell said she chose not to answer because she was “not running for office.”
“I’m promoting the policies that I laid out in the book that are mostly fiscal, that are mostly constitutional,” the Delaware Republican said. “That’s why I agreed to come on your show. That’s what I want to talk about. I’m not being weird. You’re being a little rude.”
“I’m baffled as to why you think I’m being rude,” Mr. Morgan responded. “I think I’m being rather charming and respectful. I’m just asking you questions based on your own public statements and, now, what you’ve written in your own book. It’s hardly rude to ask you that, surely.”
Ms. O’Donnell then proceeded to walk away from the interview.
“Are we off?” Ms. O’Donnell asked, her earpiece apparently removed. “Are we done?”
Reflecting on the incident, Mr. Morgan said viewers are likely to side with him.
“We watched it back and it was just so odd,” Mr. Morgan said in an interview with B&C. “She was getting some kind of signal from her people off camera, then this woman in our New York studio just jumped in front of the camera.”
The CNN host, who had met with Ms. O’Donnell earlier in the day, said the two had a very friendly conversation before the interview. Mr. Morgan defended his questioning of Ms. O’Donnell, saying the Delaware Republican is a politician and should expect to receive some level of scrutiny.
“From an interviewing standpoint, I don’t think there was anything that would constitute rudeness,” he said. “The issue of gay marriage is clearly significant in the wake of Michelle Bachmann.”
“I can’t believe she can think – as not at all a frontline politician – that she can dictate to CNN the terms of an interview,” Mr. Morgan added.
Ms. O’Donnell appeared on the program as part a book tour promoting her new book, “Troublemaker: Let’s Do What it Takes to Make America Great Again.” The Delaware Republican lost to Democratic U.S. Senator Chris Coons by a wide margin. The race garnered national attention after a series of controversial comments made by Ms. O’Donnell, including when she once said she dabbled in witchcraft and then proclaimed in a Senate campaign ad that she was not a witch.
In a tweet posted early Thursday, Ms. O’Donnell defended her decision to leave the interview.
“No hard feelings you cheeky bugger,” Ms. O’Donnell tweeted, as she declined an invite to appear on the show again.
