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23rd Aug 2012

How did a two-year-old clip of Michael D Higgins calling someone a w**ker go viral?

A massive row between our now President Michael D Higgins and a right-wing US radio host on Newstalk two years ago is now big news in the US. Here’s how it happened.

JOE

A massive row between our now President Michael D Higgins and a right-wing US radio host on Newstalk two years ago is now big news in the US. Here’s how it happened.

First, let’s go back to the start. When President Michael D was just plain old Michael D he was asked to come on George Hook’s Newstalk show to debate with Hook’s regular US right-wing contributor Michael Graham.

Graham, who would be seen as part of the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement in US politics, got into a right row with Michael D over all sorts of things, and the clip, which you can play above, ends in our Pres calling him a w**ker.

The story got some coverage at the time and the clip was surely listened to a few times during his successful Presidential campaign but the last 48 hours has seen the clip popularity sky-rocket.

How? Well, it was posted on social media site Upworthy under the headline ‘A Tea Partier Decided To Pick A Fight With A Foreign President. It Didn’t Go So Well.’

As the US warms up for its own Presidential election in a few months, the mood was ripe for a clip like this to take off and so it has, with over 200,000 views in the last 48 hours.

For us over here, we are used to Michael D and his views but we can imagine how some in the US may be a bit taken aback.

A massive row between our now President Michael D Higgins and a right-wing US Radio host on Newstalk two years ago is now big news. Here’s how it happened.

First, let’s go back to the start. When President Michael D was just plain old Michael D he was asked to come on George Hook’s Newstalk show to debate with Hook’s regular US right-wing contributor Michael Graham.

Graham, who would be seen as part of the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement in US politics, got into a right row with Michael D over all sorts fo things, and the clip, which you can play above ends in our Pres calling him a w**ker.

The story got some coverage at the time and the clip was surely listened to a few times during his successful Presidential campaign but the last 48 hours has seen the clip popularity sky-rocket.

How? Well, it was posted on social media site Upworthy under the headline ‘A Tea Partier Decided To Pick A Fight With A Foreign President. It Didn’t Go So Well.’

As the US warms up for its own Presidential election in a few months, the mood was ripe for a clip like this to take off and so it has, with over 200,000 views in the last 48 hours.

For us over here, we are used to Michael D and his views but we can imagine how some in the US will take this.

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