Jeremy Paxman is known as the rottweiller of British TV journalists – a mixture of Chris Matthews, Laurence O’Donnell, Keith Olbermann, and Jon Stewart rolled into one. He regularly skewers slippery politicians, and if he smells the least whiff of fear he closes in for the kill.
However, I’ve always noticed that he’s flummoxed and de-clawed by straight-talking and unapologetic American conservatives. When the BBC was at the height of it’s Bush-bashing years, Paxman would regularly come off worse in encounters with Bush supporters like Richard Pearle. I don’t think he could understand people who had unpopular convictions and yet didn’t apologize for them or try to water them down/explain them away.
A more recent example of this came last week when Paxman interviewed Southern Baptist pastor Robert Jeffress, who made news by describing Mormonism as a cult when introducing Presidential candidate Rick Perry to an audience of potential supporters. Jeffress gives some excellent answers and, whether you agree with him or not, I think he’s a great example of how a Christian should respond clearly, courageously, evangelistically and unapologetically to a hostile interviewer.
Watch the interview here.
HT: Paul Levy (Ref21).
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