Given how reviled he is in Liverpool, it's hard to imagine how Kelvin MacKenzie could make himself even more hated in the city.
The former editor of The Sun, who was in charge of the paper when it published its infamous 'The Truth' front page regarding the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster, may have managed that with his column in the paper today.
Now 70, MacKenzie's appetite for raising the opprobrium of Merseysiders has not waned, even in the slightest.
In a column, which certainly has racist connotations, MacKenzie weighed in on an incident which recently saw Everton footballer Ross Barkley punched in a nightclub.
MacKenzie said that he has always thought of Barkley as 'one of our dimmest footballers'. He also compared Barkley, whose is of Nigerian descent, to a gorilla.
There is something about the lack of reflection in his eyes which makes me certain not only are the lights not on, there is definitely nobody at home.
I get a similar feeling when seeing a gorilla at the zoo. The physique is magnificent but it’s the eyes that tell the story.
MacKenzie also made some reprehensible comments about both Barkley and the citizens of Liverpool.
The reality is that at £60,000 a week and being both thick and single, he is an attractive catch in the Liverpool area, where the only men with similar pay packets are drug dealers and are therefore not at nightclubs, as they are often guests of Her Majesty.
Joe Anderson, Mayor of Liverpool, has called on Everton to follow Liverpool's lead by banning The Sun from their club.
.@Everton ?Your lack of action in banning the S*n from your press conferences is a smack in the face to our City,see below&act now #JFT96?❤️ pic.twitter.com/wHFi28RLk5
— Joe Anderson (@mayor_anderson) April 14, 2017
Stan Collymore and others have highlighted the racism in MacKenzie's column.
Verified S** column by Kelvin MacKenzie today. Implied racism at its finest.
Time to boycott sponsors and associated companies. pic.twitter.com/l00GZbQH5a— Stan Collymore ❤️🖤 (@StanCollymore) April 14, 2017
I have submitted a complaint to @IpsoNews with regards to Kelvin MacKenzie's racist column https://t.co/cJnfDHZQ5M pic.twitter.com/wFewSzEz2n
— Mat Flusk 🐺 (@MatFlusk) April 14, 2017
It has also been not lost on many, and probably not MacKenzie either, that tomorrow is the 28th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.
Kelvin Mackenzie still doing what he does well; being a twat.
— Gary Lineker 💙💛 (@GaryLineker) April 14, 2017
even by today's trolltastic standards, is it not remarkable this gets published? https://t.co/BmL1GEhdE0
— james richardson (@acjimbo) April 14, 2017
