The Prime Minister's Office has suspended an administrative staffer over an "inappropriate" three-month-old Facebook post about Donald Trump, amid a media storm prompted by a Sydney shock jock.
2GB radio reported the executive assistant to Malcolm Turnbull's chief-of-staff Drew Clarke had been suspended Friday afternoon after announcer Ben Fordham inquired about her online activities.
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Turnbull suspends staffer over 'Tuck Frump' post
A junior staffer for Malcolm Turnbull's chief-of-staff has been suspended over an "inappropriate" anti-Trump post made three months ago after a 2GB radio host alerted the Prime Minister's office to the Facebook post on Friday.
The junior staffer was accused of posting to Facebook a photo of a T-shirt emblazoned with the words "Tuck Frump", a play on the phrase "F--- Trump" and which also promotes an anti-Trump website.
According to 2GB the original post was made in November, but the staffer had the image permanently fixed on her page as recently as January.
It follows revelations of a hostile phone call between the Prime Minister and the US President, in which Mr Trump reportedly yelled at Mr Turnbull about the Obama-era agreement to accept refugees from Manus Island and Nauru.
The suspension underlines the hyper-sensitivities around the relationship between the two countries following the call.
A spokesman for Mr Turnbull told Fairfax Media: "The employee accepts that these posts were inappropriate and has deleted them from her account. The chief-of-staff has suspended her immediately while the matter is investigated further."
Fairfax Media has chosen not to name the staffer, who was employed in an administrative rather than political or policy-related capacity.
Fordham said prime ministerial staff were "shocked" when he contacted them about the matter at lunchtime on Friday. He was informed about the suspension hours later, he said.
The website TuckFrump.com - to which the staffer did not link directly - features a caricature doll of the US President which is subjected to several violent acts including being burnt, steamrolled, blended, flushed down a toilet and blown up.
Visitors can also purchase a "Tuck Frump" tank top, bumper sticker and voodoo doll.
"TuckFrump.com is a #NotMyPresident social media protest campaign working to organise opposition to Donald Trump's racist, sexist, homophobic, bigoted, anti-environmental agenda," the website declares