Kemi Badenoch clashed with a BBC Radio 4 host over questioning on Liz Truss’s appearance on a “far-right” podcast.
The former prime minister was interviewed on the Lotus Eaters platform founded by Carl Benjamin, who previously joked about raping MP Jess Phillips.
Hope Not Hate said it is “completely irresponsible” for any MP or candidate to share a platform with “far-right activists.”
Asked whether it was appropriate for a Tory candidate to appear on the platform, the women and equalities minister told Mishal Husain: “We’ve had lots of scenarios of BBC presenters saying things that are inappropriate.
“I don’t know about the show… I don’t like making comments on things like that that I don’t know… It is trivial, it is unserious.”