Tom Harwood has thanked his colleague Alex Armstrong for backing him after the GB News digital team teased him over his pronunciation of US Vice President JD Vance’s name.
In a hilarious studio exchange, Tom admitted he was grateful for Alex’s support online after being accused of getting the surname wrong.
Speaking on GB News today, Tom said: "Can I just take this moment to thank Alex Armstrong for his support, his moral support, on Instagram after the GB News Digital team did me dirty and claimed I mispronounced the US Vice President's name."
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Tom thanked his co-host for his support
|GB NEWS
Alex firmly supported his colleague's position, stating: "You were absolutely right. And I'm going to stand by you on this one, Tom, because it's JD Vance."
The row began during yesterday's broadcast when a senior figure at GB News stepped in to challenge Tom's anglicised pronunciation of the Vice President’s surname.
Tom revealed that bosses had even pulled him up on it during the break prompting him to throw the debate open to viewers to delivers their verdict.
The disagreement centred on whether the Vice President’s surname should be pronounced "Var-nce" or "Van-ce", with the GB News host defending his quintessentially English pronunciation by comparing it to way Britain is divided on whether to say "ba-th" or "bar-th."
Tom said: "It’s Var-nce, not Va-nce. It’s just my pronunciation. I say New York, not New Yawk.
"I wouldn’t be trying to pronounce it like that. I say coffee, not caw-fee."
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GB News host Emily Carver replied: "The view is that you should pronounce someone’s name as they wish."
She pointed out that Tom is a firm believer in respecting pronouns, so should also respect the way that people want their name to be pronounced.
He said: "Americans expect it. To the extent that when I try to order something in the United States, you know, you’re buying a coffee and they say, “What’s your name?”
The debate centred on how you should says US Vice President JD Vance's surname
| GETTY"I’ve learned not to say Tom. Because they literally cannot understand. If they’re not expecting a British accent, it just doesn’t register. So I say Tam."
Not all of Tom’s co-hosts agreed with him. Yesterday, Mark White said he was "definitely wrong."
Cameron Walker, who also speaks with received pronunciation, added that Tom’s pronunciation wasn’t quite correct either.