During Wednesday’s live episode of Studio 10, controversial Senator David Leyonhjelm and panellist Angela Bishop went head-to-head after he labelled her a “bigoted bitch” on Twitter.
The Network Ten star called out the 66-year-old New South Wales representative for his use of language and called him out over the tweet which read: “@AngelaBishop won’t even listen to @Joe_Hildebrand explain the misandry. What a bigoted bitch.”
Leyonhjelm refused to back down or apologise to Bishop on the show, but it was later revealed that he did offer words of regret off air which were caught on camera. Leyonhjelm can be heard saying: “I didn’t intend to cause you offence.”
However it seems that despite the Senator’s apology, Bishop is still reluctant to accept it as she took to the Ten Daily website to state that she refuses to “sink to Leyonhjelm’s level”, asking: “As a federal election looms I wonder, are you trying to stay relevant senator?”
Writing on TenDaily.com.au, Bishop said: “A few illuminating things happened when Senator David Leyonhjelm appeared on Studio 10 on Wednesday morning. Among them an exchange with my colleague Hugh Riminton. Hugh said something with which the Senator disagreed. The Senator said ‘You’re entitled to your opinion Hugh.’
“Lucky Hugh because, according to the Senator, Hugh is entitled to his opinion. Me, not so much. When I disagreed with the Senator, he called me a ‘bigoted bitch’.”
Watch the moment @DavidLeyonhjelm "apologises" to @AngelaBishop for calling her a "bigoted bitch".
See it here: https://t.co/wq51YPROK2 @Studio10au #auspol pic.twitter.com/LaUIJonZAf
— 10 daily (@10Daily) July 4, 2018
Bishop went on: “In addition to the barbs directed at Senator Hanson-Young and myself, he called The Prime Minister a ‘pussy’ and published a tweet about my Ten Eyewitness News colleague Phoebe Bowden that said ‘It’s actually a cut and dried case of misandry, you numbskulls. If it was misogyny you’d be screaming your prejudiced tits off.’
“It’s kept him in the limelight and has earned him airtime across radio and television networks that he otherwise would not have had. With a federal election looming, perhaps he believes the attention could help him get re-elected. But part of me did begin to wonder whether he just enjoys hurling insults, so I asked “Does it make you feel good to say these things?” to which he responded no and “why do you ask?”.
“It was when I pushed him a bit further on the subject and pointedly asked ‘How does it make you feel to call me a bitch?’ that I got a response. He said ‘It’s just in context of robust political debate on twitter, which is a bit of a sewer for political debate. What it does is say I strongly disagree with you. I could say I strongly disagree with you, or I could call you a bitch” he replied.”
The debate was ignited last week when, during a Senate meeting on Thursday, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young called out her colleague, claiming that he had told her to “stop shagging men”. She told the chamber: “Earlier today, during the motion relating to violence against women, Senator Leyonhjelm yelled an offensive and sexist slur at me from across the chamber. After the vote on the motion was complete, I walked over to the senator and confronted him directly.
“I asked whether I had heard him correctly. He confirmed that he had yelled, ‘You should stop shagging men, Sarah.’ Shocked, I told him that he was a creep. His reply was to tell me to ‘f… off’. I informed the leader of the Greens, and he has raised it with both Senator Leyonhjelm and the President. I am disappointed that the senator has refused to apologise for this offensive and sexist slur, and I call on him to formally withdraw and apologise directly.”
Leyonhjelm has since refused to say sorry to Hanson-Young, 36, and even went on Sky News to defend his actions. However during his Studio 10 appearance, he also confessed that he would apologise, providing Hanson-Young adheres to three conditions. He said: “She has to concede that men are not collectively responsible for the violent behaviour of individuals such as the odious man who attacked and raped Eurydice Dixon in Melbourne. That we are all individuals. We are not collectively blamed, that we are treated as individuals. And three, that women have a legitimate right to have things to protect themselves … such as tasers and pepper spray.”