Karl Stefanovic has defended the  Today  show’s choice to interview an anti-masker live on air.

Lizzy Rose, who was behind the infamous Bunnings video was invited on the morning show to spout her views, saying the coronavirus pandemic was “orchestrated” and “biochemically engineered”.

It didn’t take long for Stefanovic to abruptly end the interview, telling her: “You know, I can’t even listen to you anymore. Nup. It’s wrong.”

While some praised the host for cutting the woman off, others criticised him for inviting her in the first place.

“Why have her on in the first place? It’s not like you can run an argument that she was going to have a reasonable, rational explanation,” another viewer  tweeted.

Clearing the air on KIIS FM’s  Kyle and Jackie O  show, Stefanovic and his co-host Allison Langdon defended their interview with the anti-masker.

“She came on because I thought she had an explanation as to why she would be so aggressive,” Stefanovic said. “We wanted to see if she had an explanation that was reasonable. She didn’t and then I got a little bit sick of it and I said ‘that’s it’.”

Stefanovic said it was important to hear from people who held different views.

“I think having these people on is cool, we’re all about democracy and people having freedom of speech, but if you don’t have a good reason for doing it, then there’s no reason,” he said on KIIS FM.

The  Today  host admitted that he had been frustrated by footage of anti-maskers confronting authorities in Victoria as the state battles a second wave of coronavirus.

“It’s making me anxious looking at these people having a go at cops,” he said. “It’s enough!”