Was 'raw onion' behind Barack Obama's emotional outburst during gun control speech?

Washington: US President Barack Obama, whose emotionally charged speech on gun control in Washington DC took everyone by surprise, has been accused of 'fake crying' by a host of the leading American channel.

As per reports on Tuesday, a Fox News anchor has accused Obama of 'fake crying' during his landmark speech on introducing tougher gun control measures in the East Room of the White House on January 5.

The US President was seen wiping away tears as he talked about victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, in which 20 children had died.

Later, speaking during a discussion of Obama's address on the Fox News channel, Andrea Tantaros said the leader's show of emotion was not "believable".

"I would check the podium for a raw onion or some 'No More Tears'," she reportedly said.

Co-host Melissa Francis also described US President's apparent show of emotion as "bad political theatre".

"I feel bad about those kids in Connecticut, but it's only about this that he gets so upset about and never about terror," she reportedly said.

The reactions from the two presenters came after Obama pleaded for tougher restrictions on the sale of firearms over the internet and at gun shows.

When discussing the deaths of shooting victims - particularly the first-graders murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 - the President was overcome with emotion.

"Our unalienable right to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness – those rights were stripped from college students in Blacksburg and Santa Barbara, and from high schoolers at Columbine, and from first-graders in Newtown. First-graders," Obama said, pausing and wiping his tears.

However, it is not the first time that Fox News presenters have criticised the US President. In December, analyst Lt Col Ralph Peters had called Obama a "p***y" live on air, claiming he was "afraid" to fight ISIS.

Hours later, another presenter Stacey Dash said Obama "didn't give a sh*t".

Eventually, both faced suspension from the channel for two weeks.