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British journalist and television presenter Piers Morgan. Photo: EPA

Piers Morgan gets a lesson in manhood after claiming baby carrier ‘emasculated’ Daniel Craig

The British media provocateur used the hashtag #emasculatedBond as he attempted to deride James Bond actor’s parenting technique

British television personality Piers Morgan lit up social media when he tweeted a photo of James Bond star Daniel Craig with his infant daughter in a baby carrier.

It wasn’t the photo itself that got people riled up. It was Morgan’s hashtag-style commentary about Craig’s “papoose”, an adopted Native American word used in Britain for a child carrier: “#emasculatedBond,” he wrote.

Many of Morgan’s 6.5 million followers – along with countless others who happened to see the tweet – were less than impressed with the dad-shaming stunt.

“In case you needed evidence that people like @piersmorgan literally just make up stuff to get upset about,” wrote one Twitter user, “apparently Daniel Craig is less of a man because he’s … *checks* … carrying his child?”

The response was swift and severe: The British provocateur was widely criticised for his skewed image of manhood, in which he claimed that Craig’s choice of parenting gear was a sign of emasculation rather than practicality.

“You really have to be so uncertain of your own masculinity to concern yourself with how another man carries his child,” Hollywood star Chris Evans wrote. “Any man who wastes time quantifying masculinity is terrified on the inside.”

Daniel Craig as James Bond in Skyfall. Photo: AP

(Morgan’s response? “Captain America wouldn’t wear a papoose.”)

Some users responded by calling Morgan names – “insecure manbaby” and worse.

Others attempted a more rational approach by explaining the benefits of baby carriers, which allow parents to keep children close, yet have their hands unoccupied while strolling on the street.

“There is nothing more masculine than a Father taking an active role in nurturing and looking after his child,” another user wrote. “About time more in the media celebrated this, I mean aren’t you right-wing oddballs always bleating on about lack of family values?”

Still others wrote that a father taking care of his child, even wearing a carrier, is attractive.

Craig is not even the first Bond actor to be photographed carrying his child, as at least one Twitter user pointed out. And some men responded with photos of themselves wearing baby carriers.

Morgan could not be reached for comment; neither could Craig, who recently welcomed his daughter with actress Rachel Weisz.

But Morgan, a father himself, did not stand down or waffle; he maintained that papooses are “ridiculous instruments of emasculation.”

Daniel Craig, making his debut as James Bond in Casino Royale. Photo: AP

He defended his honour on Twitter, latching onto the steady stream of papoose-related content and goading US President Donald Trump to share his thoughts on the baby carrier: “Everyone else seems to be getting very worked up about them. I don’t really have you down as a papoose kinda guy, but then you’re full of surprises.”

As of Tuesday morning, Trump had not yet taken the bait.

But Morgan was still at it, turning the backlash he had spawned into Good Morning Britain content.

And, of course, there were more troll-y tweets.

Calling the tweet-lashing a “ferocious Papoose-gate debate,” Morgan also ventured that there must be a change in James Bond casting.

Clearly, he said, the world needs a “007 who looks sharp in a tux & wouldn’t be seen dead in a papoose.”

Naturally, he nominated himself.

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