Picture of journalist sat on Donald Trump's lap criticised as 'unprofessional'

Good Morning America journalist Lara Spencer shared the image of herself and Donald Trump on Instagram

Lara Spencer sits on Donald Trump's lap (Lara Spencer/Instagram)

A picture showing a journalist sat on Donald Trump's lap has been criticised as "unprofessional".

Good Morning America journalist Lara Spencer shared the image of herself and Mr Trump on Instagram.

The pair can be seen smiling together as Ms Spencer drapes her arm around his shoulder and he places his arm around her waist.

"Can't beat having the REAL DonaldJTrump on #goodmorningamerica. :)," she wrote.

 

Can't beat having the REAL DonaldJTrump on #goodmorningamerica. :)

A photo posted by Lara Spencer (@laraspencerabc) on Nov 3, 2015 at 11:17am PST

Despite garnering 732 "likes", the post has been criticised as unprofessional by the majority of people.

"WHY would you sit on anyone's lap at any stage of your career?" one Instagram user asked.

"And you can't beat losing whatever little journalistic integrity that you had", one person said.

"[This] is one of the most unprofessional things I've seen in a while," another wrote. "Just lost lots of respect."

However, some replies were more supportive.

"I love this picture, keep it up," one person wrote.

Another added: "You wouldn't be getting this hate if you were sitting on Bernie [Sanders'] lap."

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has previously been criticised for making several sexist comments in the past.