Malcolm Turnbull

Malcolm Turnbull throws shade at Tony Abbott over Donald Trump defence.

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• published: 14 Oct 2016
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http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/malcolm-turnbull-throws-shade-at-tony-abbott-over-donald-trump-defence-20161013-gs24c1.html Malcolm Turnbull throws shade at Tony Abbott over Donald Trump defence. Sometimes the best attacks are the most subtle. Tony Abbott's defence of US presidential candidate Donald Trump has elicited a snarky response from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who cast doubt on whether his predecessor was familiar with all of Mr Trump's policies. Former prime minister Tony Abbott weighed in on the US presidential election while on Paul Murray Live, saying those who support Trump are "not deplorables" and his policies are "reasonable enough". The former prime minister came to the aid of the Republican nominee on Thursday, telling conservative broadcaster Paul Murray that Mr Trump's policies were "reasonable enough" and his supporters "decent people". Mr Turnbull, who has described Mr Trump's remarks on women as "loathsome", declined to enter the fray on Friday, reiterating that the US presidential election was a matter for the American people, not Australian politicians or parliaments. But he could not resist a droll rebuke of Mr Abbott's position. "It is a vibrant democracy both here and in the United States and I'm sure Mr Abbott has carefully read all of Donald Trump's policies before he made that comment," he told 3AW radio's Neil Mitchell. "But I am not going to buy into the policy debate in the United States." Mr Turnbull then offered his own subtle condemnation of Mr Trump's position on free trade, saying he had a "very strong view" that the US should ratify the Trans Pacific Partnership, which the Republican has described as "a rape of our country" and a "disaster". The Prime Minister also used a joint press conference with his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday to call on the US Congress to ratify the TPP, which he said was a "profoundly, strategically important commitment". Mr Abbott is also a strong proponent of free trade, and concluded deals with Japan, Korea and China while in office. The skirmish came after the New South Wales upper house backed a motion dubbing Mr Trump a "revolting slug" and senior Australian politicians weighed in to cast judgment on the man who might yet command the White House. Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg repeated his assessment of Mr Trump as "a dropkick" whose comments on women were "abhorrent" and "indefensible". "People right across the political spectrum have said that," he told Sky News. Labor leader Bill Shorten said he does not respect Mr Trump and that he was "entirely unsuitable" for the presidency. And Mr Abbott also described the Republican's comments on women as "gross beyond belief and ... completely indefensible". But the ex-PM said the NSW Parliament's intervention was an "exercise in moral vanity", and he strongly rejected Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's description of Trump voters as "a basket of deplorables", for which she later apologised. Visit CHAOS View Archive For More CHAOS NEWS: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUiFq-IUU64l62ygPdbVnIA