President Trump's state visit to the United Kingdom was fuel for a protest in Central London yesterday, organized by the Stop Trump Coalition.
Regent street was filled with signs and chants rejecting his rhetoric towards migrants, and alleged ties to dead financier Jeffrey Epstein.
It's a similar scene to one back home. Great Britain and the United States now find themselves with many parallels in their current political climate — including polarization from both ends of the political spectrum.
And it appears the similarities don't end there. Just four years ago, conservative Upstart channel GB News threw its hat into the ring of U.K. media.
It has quickly become one of the most popular news outlets in the country. So, are they the Fox News of the U.K.?
Michael Booker, the editorial director, of GB News, and other staff, joined All Things Considered host Mary Louise Kelly to give their own answers, and explain why their network is resonating for Brits right now.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
Interview highlights
Mary Louise Kelly: As I have mentioned to people here in London, 'Hey, I'm going to go see the GB news newsroom.'
They say they're on the right. You lean right. Your coverage leans to the right on the political spectrum. Is that fair? Is that true?
Michael Booker: I think we try and be common sense. I don't come in as editorial director thinking we need to be right today or left today, I just think we just need to be correct.
Kelly: Are you the Fox News of Britain?
Booker: We don't set out to be the Fox News of Britain. But in terms of understanding where we are, I suppose that's the nearest to what we are.
We're very different from Fox News. I was brought in because I was the I'd been the editor of three national newspapers and they'd been across the spectrum as well. It's not just a few media executives like myself telling you what to think. We want to hear what you think.
Christopher Hope, political editor: [[pls double check i've got this right i cannot tell who is saying this]] I think there's a there's a sense that the mainstream media is a bit left of center and in a kind of a bubble where our viewers tell us they don't raise issues they care about, such as immigration, such as concerns about crime.
We hear that from the viewers. We want to have the entire conversation. It's okay to be worried about immigration. It's not a racist thing or a far-right thing and trying to just try to talk to them, understand that and give them a voice. Because previously, you know, they felt looked down on.
Kelly: Is there an example of a story that's been big in the headlines that GB News covered differently in an intentional way?
Booker: I think we were first to cover properly the protest outside a hotel in Epping called the Bell Hotel.
The policy in the last government has been to put some illegal arrive migrants up in hotels. And that's caused protests around the country.
Many people can't afford a hotel room in this country, but our taxes are paying for people who arrive here illegally to stay in a hotel. You know, what's their background? No one knows. So raising that question, talking about it, is one of the big issues we are doing at GB News.
Kelly: GB News recently announced a partnership with Trump Media. The press release, which is up on your website, quotes Devin Nunes, who is the Trump media chief executive. He describes the goal of the partnership in part as, 'putting another dent in the global woke news monopoly.' Is that how you see it?
Booker: That's the way that he sees it. I'm not going to argue with that. Whether some people are woke or not. I don't particularly care, really. My job purely and simply as editorial director is to do the best I can for the people. We are the people's channel.
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