US conservative pundit Ben Shapiro branded right-leaning Spectator chairman Andrew Neil 'left-wing' before storming off during a BBC interview.

The 35-year-old has now been ridiculed by social media users for his political slur after he was taken to task by the veteran broadcaster over his support for Georgia's abortion clampdown and previous comments that 'Arabs like to bomb cr** and live in open sewage'.

He accused Mr Neil, who previously worked for the Conservative party, of showing his bias by calling the law, which will ban abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, 'barbaric' and asked: 'Why don't you just say that you're on the left?' 

After hearing the accusation from Mr Shaprio, the 69-year-old journalist chuckled at him and said: 'If you only knew how ridiculous that statement is you wouldn't have said it.' 

The 16-minute interview had been scheduled in order for Mr Shapiro to promote his new book about American politics.

Mr Neil probed Mr Shapiro on the 'heart bill' which had just been passed in Georgia.

Mr Shapiro, who is against abortion, then hit out at the veteran broadcaster and said: 'Are you an objective journalist or an opinion journalist?'

He then insisted that Mr Neil should be 'honest about his own bias'. Mr Neil responded to his tirade calmly and insisted that it was his 'job is to question those who have strong views and put an alternative to them.' 

During the interview, Mr Neil quizzed Mr Shapiro over whether or not he thought banning abortion after six weeks would be taking society back to the dark ages, to which he again, slammed his journalistic integrity.

'You purport to be an objective journalist. The BBC purports to be an objective, down the middle network.

'It obviously is not and it never has been. And you as a journalist are proceeding to call one side of the political spectrum ignorant, barbaric and sending us back to the Dark Ages. Why don't you just say that you're on the left?' 

The interview didn't get any better and Mr Shapiro urged Mr Neil to read his book, before stating that he had 'never heard of him'.

As the experienced interviewer continued to grill Mr Shapiro on his positions, Mr Shapiro became visibly annoyed and instead of answering questions began to launch personal attacks.

At one point, a flustered Mr Shapiro ranted: 'You can think whatever you want of me, frankly I don't care, I don't frankly give a damn what you think of me since I've never heard of you.'

The interview ended with Mr Shapiro saying: 'I'm not inclined to continue in an interview with a person as badly-motivated as you as an interviewer so we're done here, I appreciate your time.'

Mr Neil added: 'Well, thank you for your time and showing that anger isn't part of political discourse.'

Social media users have poked fun at Mr Shapiro, with some saying that Mr Neil had just been playing 'devils advocate'.

One Twitter user OneIsShows said: 'Hilarious what happens when an actual journalist who is a conservative interviews a conservative from another country.' 

Mr Neil is well-known for his right-leaning views, has previously worked for the Conservative party and had been an editor at the Sunday Times. 

Other social media users were also quick to Mr Neil's defence and even branded Mr Shapiro a 'snowflake'.

Harry WIlson said: 'Storming off from Andrew Neill what a snowflake, his feels were hurt because it wasn't a fawning American political interview.'

Another user, with the name 'egg' said: 'Mr. Shapiro is demonstrating here a classic case of projection. Not only is he ill-prepared for the interview, he tries (to no avail) to frame Andrew Neil's questions in a way, to make himself sound as if he is debating. He's not. He's avoiding every question.'

Mr Neil later admitted he too had not heard of Mr Shapiro - who was editor-at-large of Breitbart News between 2012 and 2016 - until he began researching him for the interview. 

But that didn't stop him from riling up the pundit who rose to fame as an author and columnist, previously arguing in his work that 'the Palestinian-Arab population is rotten to the core' and that abortion should be banned completely. 

Clips from the awkward interview were widely shared across social media, with many mocking Mr Shapiro for his overreaction.

Tom Copley wrote: 'Ben Shapiro storming off in a huff after being humiliated in an interview by Andrew Neil. You're not on Fox News now. The full interview is well worth a watch.'

Jane Merrick added: 'Absolutely hooting with laughter that Ben Shapiro has just accused Andrew Neil of being a terrible, biased, liberal leftie.'

Susan Revello said: 'American journalists take note. BBC's Andrew Neil interviewed Ben Shapiro perfectly, with facts and no emotions.

'Shapiro exposed as a petulant brat and showed the world in the U.S. it's ok to express insults and anger when asked questions one does not like.'    

Mr Shapiro himself admitted his mistake on social media shortly before the interview aired, tweeting: 'Just pre-taped an interview with BBC's Andrew Neil.

'As I'm not familiar with him or his work, I misinterpreted his antagonism as political Leftism (he termed the pro-life position in America 'barbaric') – and that was apparently inaccurate.

'For that, I apologize.'

Earlier today he shared an article entitled 'So, Here's A Giant List Of All The Dumb Stuff I've Ever Done (Don't Worry, I'll Keep Updating It)' and added: '.@afneil DESTROYS Ben Shapiro! So that's what that feels like ;) 

'Broke my own rule, and wasn't properly prepared. I've addressed every single issue he raised before; see below. Still, it's Neil 1, Shapiro 0.'