Monday 9 May 2022 03:38 AM Mark Latham defends tweet about 60 Minutes host Sarah Abo and claimed debate ... trends now
One Nation MP Mark Latham has defended his controversial tweet about last night's election TV debate - claiming 'dopes' on Twitter have misinterpreted his missive about Sarah Abo.
In the wake of Channel Nine's leader debate held on Sunday night, Mr Latham tweeted 'never trust an Abo with something as important as that', which sparked uproar as it was immediately interpreted as a slur about Indigenous Australians.
The NSW state party leader also tweeted 'Albo has lost control' after Anthony Albanese and Scott Morrison continued to bicker despite the host repeatedly asking them to move on to other questions.
Asked about the controversy on Monday morning, Mr Latham defended his tweet, saying words can have multiple meanings and the 'true meaning lies with the speaker, not necessarily the listener.'
'[The clash on Twitter was] An example of how the Outrage Industry fails to understand how words can have multiple meanings, and the true meaning lies with the speaker, not necessarily the listener', he said.
One Nation MP Mark Latham (pictured) has been slammed for a 'tasteless' tweet attacking the leaders debate host Sarah Abo
Mr Latham took to Twitter following the tumultuous debate to criticise Abo's performance with a tweet that quickly caught the attention of other users
He continued: 'I said 'Albo has lost control' and Twitter heads thought that was an attack on Albo and/or racism. Dopes. Sarah Abo was the moderator.'
Mr Latham said the Today Show's Karl Stefanovic would have done a better job moderating the debate than Ms Abo.
'Karl would have done a much better job keeping the two shouters/interrupters under control, speaking one at a time,' he continued.
'Ended up being a wasted night under Abo.'
Mr Latham said the controversy had highlighted how 'the idiots on Twitter had no idea the moderator was Sarah Abo'.
His double-down comes after furious Twitter users reacted to the 'tasteless' tweet by claiming the politician had used a racial slur to critique the moderator.
'Not sure about this one Mark', one user tweeted to the NSW upper house MP.
'Snickering like a schoolboy I bet. C'mon Mark, this is tasteless,' another user said.
'Wow, I mean wow. I'm old enough to remember when even Mark Latham didn't say this sort of stuff out loud,' a third agreed.
The controversy on social media led Mr Latham to describe Twitter as a 'sewer' on Monday morning.
One Nation MP Mark Latham said Today Show host Karl Stefanovic (pictured with his co-host Allison Langdon) would have been a better host for the second leaders debate
Mr Albanese (left) and Mr Morrison (centre) have been slammed for their 'terrible' treatment of 60 Minutes host Sarah Abo (right( after refusing her requests they move on
It comes as Mr Albanese and Mr Morrison have been slammed for their 'terrible' treatment of Ms Abo, a 60 Minutes reporter who previously cut her teeth at SBS.
Both continued to bicker and shout over the top of one another despite her pleas for them to stop.
In one uncomfortable moment the host noticeably struggled to get a word in during a drawn-out discussion about China and the Solomon Islands.
'I think we are getting more questions … Excuse me. I think we're getting more questions between the two of you than from our panel,' Ms Abo said.
As the pair continued to bicker she tried again to moderate but was waved off by Mr Morrison who told her he was in the middle of making 'a very important point'.
'Mr Morrison and Mr Albanese, this is enough, we do need to move on,' she said.
After her pleas fell on deaf ears for the second time, she was forced to remind the leaders they had both agreed to play by the debate rules.
'You all agreed to the rules this evening. Chris Uhlmann has a question, and we will move on to his question,' she said.
In one uncomfortable moment the host noticeably struggled to break the pair up during a drawn-out discussion of China and the Solomon Islands
Viewers were quick to criticise the leaders (pictured) for their blatant disrespect for Abo and said the constant interruptions made for a poor leaders debate
Just moments later, the host was ignored once again by the fired-up Labor leader.
'Something that Mr Albanese -- we have a question. Mr Albanese, we have given you more than enough time,' she told him.
'The pair of you have had more than enough time. You agreed… You agreed to these rules before coming on the program tonight.'
Viewers criticised both leaders for their blatant disrespect for Ms Abo.
'The flippant dismissal and wave of his hand to Sarah Abo just now is not going to do much for Morrison's 'woman problem',' one woman wrote.
'This is truly terrible. Where is the moderator,' one commentator asked on Twitter.
'Letting them talk over each other makes for a pretty poor #leadersdebate,' another agreed.
The network initially declared Mr Albanese as the preferred Prime Minister between the pair despite the glitch leaving thousands unable to vote online
Mr Albanese (pictured) said the Solomon Islands' new secret security deal with China amounted to a 'massive foreign policy failure' by the Government
Frustrated viewers also complained of a faulty online voting poll which at one point listed the Coalition twice, forcing Channel Nine to address the technical glitch.
'We are experiencing high volumes of traffic at the moment. Please bear with
