It can be exasperating to watch TV journalists struggle (or not bother) to shut down slippery and sexist/racist politicians, but when it’s done right, it’s oh so right. That’s what makes veteran Australian journalist Virginia Trioli’s handling of libertarian senator David Leyonhjelm so deeply satisfying to watch—a master class in dealing with a moron.
Senator Leyonhjelm appeared on 7.30, Australia’s major nightly news, to double-down on his suggestion that fellow senator Sarah Hanson-Young “stop shagging men,” in what he sees as a “very legitimate” response to “misandry.” Leyonhjelm reportedly made the comment last Thursday during a senate debate on violence against women, specifically the restrictions on pepper spray and tasers. The debate over who is responsible for such violence has been raging across Australia since the rape and murder of 22-year-old comedian Eurydice Dixon on her walk home from a gig, with women responding angrily to suggestions that they need to take more precaution than they already do.
It’s not clear exactly what Hanson-Young, a member of the minority Greens Party, said that prompted Leyonhjelm’s comments, and Leyonhjelm…can’t remember exactly. But he’s certainly got his knickers in a knot over the suggestion that it might be men who are responsible for violence against women. According to the interview here, the comment appears to have been something along the lines of “if only men would stop raping women” which he interprets as “all men are rapists, or something to that effect” (Hanson-Young denies saying this, and it wasn’t recorded amidst the shouting match into which parliament regular descends).