TV anchor can't tell Edward Snowden from Scissorhands

An American TV anchor confused Edward Snowden and Edward Scissorhands. Photo / Getty Images

An American TV anchor barreled through an interview about Edward Snowden's newly created Twitter account without appearing to notice the supposed "Snowden supporter" she has on screen is actually talking about Edward Scissorhands.

In this video, anchor Yasmin Vossoughian dials up Jon Hendren, known by his Twitter handle @fart, for a segment about the whistle blower.

Hendren plays things straight at first, saying "we should listen to what he says" and criticising the fact that "he's been isolated for so long".

But Vossoughian's follow-up questions reveal the "he" Hendren is referring to is not one of the United States' most wanted fugitives, but Edward Scissorhands - a sweet but ostracized mutant creation from the 1990 Tim Burton movie of the same name.

At least, this becomes obvious to the viewer - Vossoughian appears oblivious to the fact her guest has started talking about a fictional character.

US television anchor Yasmin Vossoughian barrels through an interview without realising she's being trolled. picture/ jezebel.com

"Well, you know, to say that he couldn't harm somebody with what he did - he could, absolutely, he could," says Hendren. "But to cast him out, to make him invalid in society simply because he has scissors for hands, I mean, that's strange. People didn't get scared until he started sculpting shrubs into dinosaur shapes and whatnot."

"Now, Snowden's living in Russia," Vossoughian continues without missing a beat. "Some people say it's hypocritical that Snowden has asylum in Russia. Russia has a lot of human rights violations."

Hendren continues: "Casting him out is completely wrong. We're treating him like an animal, somebody who should be quarantined and put away. Just because he was created on top of a mountain by Vincent Price, and incomplete, with scissors for hands and no heart ... Edward Scissorhands is a complete hero to me."

"But what about the choice he made to live in a country like Russia?" asks Vossoughian, who is either not listening or trying to be extremely professional about the situation.

"I mean, where else is he going to go? You know?" asks Hendren. "We cast him out. We got scared when he poked a hole in a waterbed with his scissor fingers, and that was unreasonable of us."

"Well, Jon," says Vossoughian, "I appreciate you giving us your opinion."

- nzherald.co.nz