John Rhys-Davies accused of ‘losing it’ on Question Time after shouting ‘oh woman!’ at Caroline Lucas One frustrated viewer likened the actor to ‘a petulant child’

John Rhys-Davies has been accused of “losing it” after he shouted “oh woman!” at Caroline Lucas and banged his fists on the table during the latest episode of Question Time.

At the end of Thursday night’s episode, the actor, who is known for his role as Gimli in Lord of The Rings, appeared to lose his temper with the Green Party MP after she challenged his views on the success of Donald Trump.

‘Oh woman!’

Rhys-Davies voiced his support for President Trump’s official state visit to celebrate the anniversary of the D-Day landings in June.

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But the actor appeared to be caught off guard when Ms Lucas challenged the popularity of the US leader.

“Donald Trump lost the popular vote,” the MP for Brighton Pavilion explained.

Every woman has seen a man react like this when they are caught off guard by common sense. Yet they stay calm & resilient. @CarolineLucas is the reason I’m voting Green in the EU elections and the general election. pic.twitter.com/3oQnEl1eUB — Shahmir Sanni (@shahmiruk) April 26, 2019

“Oh woman!” he exclaimed, slamming his fists on the table.

“Have you ever read Arrow’s theorem?”

Ms Lucas kept her cool during the terse exchange.

Earlier on in the programme, she had called the US leader “a bigot”.

“Donald Trump is frankly a bigot and a bully, a racist and a misogynist,” she said.

“‘He’s a serial liar and a fantasist. He says climate change is a Chinese hoax. I don’t think it’s right to roll a red carpet out for a man with those values,” she added.

‘Every woman has seen a man react like this’

Programme viewers criticised the actor’s behaviour towards the politician on Twitter.

One frustrated viewer likened the actor to “a petulant child”.

“John Rhys-Davies loses it and screeches “oh woman!” like a petulant child at a dignified and calm Caroline Lucas when faced with nothing but a simple fact. This is precisely why facts are so key in public debate these days,” tweeted Dr Lauren Gavaghan.

“Did anyone else feel genuinely worried for Caroline Lucas in this moment?” tweeted Femi Oluwole, who leads the Our Future Our Choice campaign for a People’s Vote on Brexit.

“John Rhys-Davies may sound posh, but that was thuggish behaviour by anyone’s definition (sexist too),” he added.

Shahmir Sanni, the former Vote Leave activist who hit the headlines after revealing the campaign’s overspending in the EU referendum, wrote on Twitter: “Every woman has seen a man react like this when they are caught off guard by common sense. Yet they stay calm & resilient. Caroline Lucas is the reason I’m voting Green in the EU elections and the general election.

Writer Alex Andreou called the outburst “embarrassing”.

He wrote: “I had hoped that John Rhys-Davies, whose acting contribution I greatly admire, wouldn’t feel a need, as the Brexiter on the panel, to be an embarrassing dickhead about climate change as well. But no. To type. I guess it’s what happens when one doesn’t believe in experts.”

The disability campaigner Nicky Clark said the actor should apologise to Ms Lucas.

She tweeted: “John Rhys Davies should apologise for that behaviour towards Caroline Lucas. It was aggressive and she shouldn’t have to experience that.”

The actor was part of a couple of controversial moments during the programme.

An audience member who demanded that the government take action on climate change asked the actor to be quiet so he could hear from “the politicians, not an actor who cannot make a difference”.

The actor was also challenged on his comments over the projected population increase in Africa leading to climate change.

“The elephant in the room is that we do need nuclear power,” the Indiana Jones actor said.

He entered several debates with Lucas during the programme, who disputed his claims.