The past four and a bit years have been a white-knuckled ride for former prime minister Tony Abbott observing Donald Trump’s performance in the White House. After all, Abbott initially believed the presidential hopeful was “uniquely under-qualified” for the Oval Office ahead of the 2016 election. But that all changed during the term with Abbott eventually praising Trump’s performance and ability to deliver on promises.
Tony AbbottCredit:Illustration: John Shakespeare
“Much to the surprise of many … indeed, somewhat to my own surprise … I think he’s been quite a success: his style sometimes grates, but he’s been a very good president,” the former PM told US conservatives in early 2020 at a Heritage Foundation event.
But it appears that even Abbott was underwhelmed by Trump’s recklessness in the dying days of his presidency, including calling for his supporters to storm Washington DC’s Capitol Hill in the riots, which ultimately left five people dead. In an interview to be released next week as part of a new online series produced by the right-aligned Institute of Public Affairs and conservative outlet The Spectator, the former MP doesn’t mince his words on the former president.
“He has not behaved well since the election … I suppose he was always going to be a sore loser [and] you don’t have to like losing, but you have got to respect the people’s verdict,” he said. “And for all the things that might have looked a bit fishy on the [election] night, no court anywhere in the United States was convinced that there was anything fundamentally wrong.”
But an Australian example shows history could eventually rehabilitate Trump’s reputation, he says. “While he might have been a sore loser, he was in many respects quite a good president, he … had great political integrity,” he said. “I suspect that history will be kinder to him than his contemporaries are being right now … At the time John Howard wasn’t exactly popular with people who now actually regard him as a statesman.”
Guess that’s one way of looking at it.
Aussie Amazon
Amazon wheeled out its Australian video boss Hushidar Kharas in Melbourne on Tuesday for the launch of the highly-anticipated behind-the-curtain AFL documentary, Making Their Mark.
The doco charts the AFL’s experience during 2020 as it grapples to keep the competition running amid the COVID-19 pandemic and its shift to a Gold Coast hub.
