Emily Maitlis labelled a 'legend' for her perfect reaction to Trump supporter in bizarre TV interview

Two days of waiting for the results of the US election and we’re all starting to go a little off the boil.

The race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden turns on a knife edge; either one could still win as votes continue to be counted in key swing states.

At the moment, Biden has an edge and Trump is not happy.

He’s been spreading baseless misinformation and conspiracy theories about voter fraud, including claiming he’ll legally challenge results in several states.

The incumbent president is also trying to claim victory in several states that have not finished counting votes, like Pennsylvania and Georgia.

He also claimed victory in Michigan – despite officials saying that Joe Biden had won the state.

And it seems like Trump’s hardline supporters are following his example.

At least, Newsnight host Emily Maitlis is being praised for expertly shutting down a pro-Trump guest yesterday who tried to cast aspersions on the electoral process.

Randi Reed, a Republican Congressional candidate in Nevada (who lost the primary), appeared on the programme on Wednesday evening.

When asked by Maitlis if she wanted to hear Trump concede, Reed said “Absolutely not” (unsurprising).

But then she started spreading misinformation, saying:

I completely agree with Trump that we need to get the bottom of what’s going on before he can accept or concede the seat. 

To have an absolute stop in vote counting is completely unacceptable but at the same time, the Democrats laid out the plan and we’re just living it. 

But Maitlis was having none of it, replying “Sorry, I don’t understand. You’ve heard Donald Trump in a tweet claim victory in Pennsylvania, which hasn’t finished counting, victory in North Carolina, which hasn’t finished counting and victory in Michigan, which has been given to Joe Biden and the Democrats.

“Why’s he doing that?”

Reed replied with more conspiracy theories, saying:

Because we looked at what happened last night, before the Democrats decided to put a stop to actual vote counting.

Maitlis challenged her, asking “What vote counting? They’re still counting the votes, that’s the whole point”.

Reed continued to claim there had been a stop in vote counting because Donald Trump was experiencing a “surge” before saying that “mail-in voting de-legitimises the [election] process:”.

“So mail-in voting shouldn’t have been allowed during a pandemic?” Maitis asked sardonically.

Although the clip posted on social media ends there, the full interview also sees Reed appear to question how real Covid-19 is.

Normal.

And people on social media praised Maitlis’ swift shut down of any misleading conspiracy theories.

‘OMG Emily Maitlis is taking absolutely no s**t from a deluded Trump supporter right now and it’s incredible,” said actor Nicola Coughlan.

Others noted similarities between Maitlis and Supernanny.

“Love Emily Maitlis SO much,” someone else chimed in.

She was labelled a "legend".

There were even some creative metaphors employed.

Lesson of the day: Emily Maitlis deals in facts only.