Piers Morgan identifies as a black woman to trans couple and Twitter responds accordingly

Piers Morgan – a figure no stranger to causing an online ruckus – has set Twitter off once again after claiming he identifies as a black woman to a trans couple.

The interview with trans non-binary couple Fox and Owl aimed to speak about issues to do with International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia today (17 May) before Morgan made some odd comments.

The chat soon became heated as Morgan claimed that he "supported and respected" transgender rights but that he believed gender neutrality is a "massive fad". He then asked if he could identify as a "black woman".

Fox and Owl responded by claiming that Morgan could choose to identify as anything he wished, with Fox stating: "You can. That doesn't take away from how we identify."

Owl added: "It doesn't really change anything about my life how another person identifies. You can identify in any way you want and that's up to you.

"The problem is this is a hypothetical intellectual discussion for you, but this is about our actual identity."

To viewers' delight, Fox even had a dagger for the former journalist when discussing their upcoming children's book on gender and diversity, telling him: "This book is for three-year-olds upwards – so it'll be good for you, Piers."

Continuing to challenge the couple, Morgan went on a bizarre tangent by getting elephants involved, asking if he could identify with the land mammal. He said: "Can I literally say I'm now an elephant and do I get afforded elephant rights? Can I go to London Zoo and demand to be put in an elephant compound because I have decided I'm an elephant?"

Owl replied: "It's not about erasing gender. Nobody's saying that people cannot be men or women, we're saying that people can also be non-binary and gender needs to expand. Please stop fear mongering as it doesn't help. It's not a fad."

Unsurprisingly, Morgan's comments sparked an uproar on Twitter, with one user writing: "as if piers morgan didn't seem like a t*t already, he said he identified as black woman when talking to two nonbinary people...." with another adding: "Am I seriously listening to Piers Morgan trying to justify calling himself a black woman in a debate about gender?"

A third added: "equating their gender expression with Piers Morgan hypothetical claims to be a black woman is ridiculous."