★★★★★ 0/5

Senator & TEN presenter face off over abusive language

Angela Bishop & High Riminton grill Senator David Leyonhjelm over slur he directed at Studio 10 presenter.

24
Leave a comment

Warning: language

Angela Bishop has become part of Senator David Leyonhjelm’s controversy involving abusive language directed at Senator Hanson-Young.

Following a Studio 10 discussion last week in which Bishop criticised Leyonhjelm’s behaviour he tweeted that she was a “bigoted bitch.”

This morning he appeared on the show to defend his remarks but Bishop and Hugh Riminton both called him out on his slur at the TEN presenter.

“Senator, you said that you made those remarks because (Sarah Hanson-Young) was guilty of misandry. I am not a misandrist. Why did you call me a bitch?” Bishop asked.

He replied, “Because you were being bigoted. Joe was trying to explain to you the context in which I made that statement, and you cut him off. The definition of bigotry is not listening to any other view. That is what I was trying to say.”

Hugh Riminton asked, “But if you think she’s a bigot, why not call her a bigot? Why call her a bitch? Real men don’t call women bitches.”

Leyonhjelm didn’t see anything wrong with calling somebody a bitch or a bastard, telling Bishop, “I’m sorry you took offence at that.”

“Is that an apology,?” Sarah Harris asked.

“No, what I’m saying is that I’m sorry she has taken offence.”

After the show both had an off camera discussion in which Leyonhjelm conceded “I probably shouldn’t have said it in public.

SKY News has apologised for comments the Senator made on air on Sunday but suspended a producer, with calls to reinstate her growing in numbers.

The original video is here:

Source: TEN Daily

24 Responses

  1. Parliament is full of idiots who throw insults at each other Hanson-Young playing victim is just laughable after some of her crude outbursts. Catherine King’s comment regarding David Leyonhjelm on Q&A was pathetic and I was glad that Sarah Henderson called her out for the cheap insult.

    As for Angela Bishop calling someone a bigot that is one thing but adding b***h was unnecessary. However I am waiting for Mum’s (Bronwyn Bishop) well thought out response regarding David Leyonhjelm’s comment on the next Paul Murray Live (Sky News).

    1. Angela Bishop didn’t call anyone a bigoted bitch, David Leyonhjelm called her that. You’ve really got the wrong end of the stick. In your haste to defend Leyonhjelm, you’ve got the story completely mixed up.

  2. It is amusing (& sad) that people do not realise their own hypocrisy.

    A man says something rudely, not sexist, not anything that causes any great damage, just rude.

    Then the ‘overreaction crowd’ including SHY make it a huge hullabaloo, call for sponsors to be cancelled, the man to resign and basically try to make the act of rudeness they disapprove of (but never do when it is their own) career ending.

    So on the one hand somebody says something that is of no lasting consequence and does no lasting damage to the person vs those that wish to do someone permanent and serious harm and yet they claim to be ones sticking up for appropriate behaviour & proportionality (justice).

    To make progressives see this situation in another light, image SHY was a white, rich, corporate manager, & DL was an immigrant employee that got heated and said something inopportune (after provocation)…

    1. Have you not read or heard that this isn’t the first time DL and other Senators have insulted and cast aspersions on SHY. Enough is enough.

  4. I used to admire his stance on free speech, but now I see him for the misogynistic neanderthal that he really is. He clearly thrives on media attention, so it’s time to starve him of any attention and literally freeze him out.

  5. ‘Leyonhjelm conceded “I probably shouldn’t have said it in public.’
    Should not have said it at all…full stop…He has had his 15 minutes…Wish everyone would stop feeding his ego… 🙁

  6. Time for the media to drop the Leyonhjelm story now. He is using the attention to keep himself in the headlines for the upcoming election. Mute him.

  7. What a shame Joe was not there this morning. Would have loved to see his reaction to the nonsensical argument and reason for abuse towards Angela.

  8. Gee the names I get called on social media sometimes because I have an old fashioned view on a subject or I just plain ole have my own opinion, would curl your toes. Upsets me often and I go away head in chest and swear I am deleting all accounts but I still believe in free speech without calling people names so back I go for more. This guy should just go away and bury his head for awhile. Ignorance is bliss !

    1. Do you believe in free speech with no responsibility, or just free speech? Because, really, the choice of language isn’t the problem.

      Leyonhjelm’s problem is that he claims to believe in free speech, but his behaviour is that of someone who likes it simply because he takes no responsibility. That he’s hypocritical about that – he gets upset if others don’t back down after saying things about him, and doubly so if the person upsetting him is female – is the real problem.

      Well, that, and he doesn’t know when to stop digging…

  9. For all the calls for Sky News to be boycotted and petitions to have Qantas end its sponsorship of Sky over having the Senator on, all these other channels (Seven, Nine, Ten and the ABC) continue to have him as a guest knowing he will double down and say something controversial, which is the same thing Sky was criticised for doing in having him on in the first place. The Senator is very clearly enjoying all the attention, and he’s probably had more media requests in the last week than his entire career in the Senate.

  10. It is all the Australian Electoral Commission’s fault. They approved the Liberal Democrat party name and people trying to vote for the Liberal party elected him. Who could foresee that happening? Literally everyone not in the AEC.

    1. His election (on a small primary vote) was caused by a number of things, not just the dubious party name-place on the ballot form, which is randomly assigned and small party preference exchange deals all played a role in having this crank in the senate.

      1. Sorry. No!

        smh.com.au/national/how-mistaken-identity-and-luck-won-on-the-day-20131004-2uzse.html

        It was all confusing name and spot on the ballot.

        1. Which is true enough for the 2013 election, but doesn’t explain his return in 2016. That was one weird aberration itself – scraped into the last Senate spot with a 6.4% swing against (double or more than any other party, for or against), and less than 1/2 a quota.

          1. He managed to gain just enough name recognition to be re-elected in 2016. With a higher quota needed next year, he is obviously desperate to keep his name out there. Hopefully the voters of NSW don’t reward him.

          2. @James1976: Well, yeah, that’s the aberration right there. His ‘name recognition’ between 2013 and 2016 didn’t gain anything – it _cost_ the LDP votes compared to the donkey vote of 2013.

            Every other state where they ran for the Senate, their vote increased. In NSW, where Leyonhjelm ran for a second time, their vote dropped substantially…

  11. The man was wholly wrong to use that kind of remark. But bad language has become the norm in just about everything. i hear kids of 7 and 8 using really bad language. Once upon a time people never swore in movies, on TV or in front of others, especially kids. I find it offensive but when i say something about it, i just get told off get “its life now, get over it.”

    Is bad language and how you feel about someone or something a part of free speech? As Hugh said, you can tone down how you use your thoughts with similar, kinder words and it still gets your point across.

  12. Why give this story any more air time channel ten! Oh of course how could I forget headline grabbing for ratings. What people don’t understand is it actually plays into his hands and makes him more popular because he picks up fringe attention and supporter. Why does the media not learn if you want to remove people like Trump, Hanson or this guy- then don’t give them airtime.

    1. Exactly! This guy knows his supporter base is just like him and he will get another term as senator. The guy is smart and has learnt from Trump that outrage is good for him. The media shows outrage but they knowingly feed it as it fills up the infinite media space.

      1. Presumably he won’t have the advantage of the first column on the NSW Senate voting tablecloth and therefore being voted in by a combination of donkey votes and accidental votes from inattentive would-be Liberal Party voters. And he won’t have the advantage of a double dissolution election this time around, either. I’m hopeful we will see the back of him.

Leave a Reply