No love lost for Piers Morgan

February 26, 2014, 7:02 PM GMT+0

Only a quarter of Americans like Piers Morgan, with Republicans in particular viewing the British talking head negatively

Piers Morgan has lost his primetime CNN slot, as falling ratings and a persistent sense that he never quite won the hearts of the US viewing public put paid to his dreams of making it in America. Piers Morgan began his time at CNN with great fanfare three years ago, replacing old favorite Larry King and quickly made a name for himself as an opinionated commentator who isn't afraid of courting controversy.

After the massacre at Sandy Hook his calls for strict regulation of guns in the United States prompted calls among certain conservatives for him to be deported back to Britain. Piers Morgan himself has said that being foreign has made his job as a commentator much more difficult, and the New York Times said that he often resembled "King George III, peering down his nose at the unruly colonies".

According to the latest research from YouGov, CNN is right to worry about his popularity. Only 24% of the public have a favorable opinion of Piers Morgan. Republicans in particular seem to dislike him, with 63% saying that they have unfavorable opinions of him and only 13% having favorable opinions. Democrats are a bit more likely to like (35%) rather than dislike (21%) Piers Morgan.

When we asked people with unfavorable views of Piers Morgan why they dislike him, the most common answer, chosen by 31% of people, was that he is 'arrogant'. In second places (20%) was his anti-gun politics, followed by the fact he is a foreigner talking about American politics and the perception his is too left-wing, both of which were chosen by 19% of Americans who dislike him. His hopes to move into a role where he does occasional, major interviews, may not be dashed however as only 15% complained about his interview technique.

Full poll results can be found here.

Image: Getty

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