Q&A: Donald Trump labelled 'appalling human being', while supporter says Bill Clinton was worse
Updated
A Donald Trump supporter on Monday's Q&A rejected suggestions the President-elect had won on the back of racial resentment, while another described the billionaire as an "appalling human being".
On a night where panel members did not hold back, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce was the only one who — perhaps understandably — trod lightly when speaking about Mr Trump.
Despite Mr Trump's sexist comments towards women, Trump supporter and political analyst Helen Andrews said there were reasons why polls showed a majority of white female voters had supported him.
"On the Bill Clinton meter of pathological serial sexual predation, Donald Trump barely moves the needle," she said.
"At a time when Manhattan real estate was a boy's club, he appointed women to run his construction sites. He appointed the first woman to run a successful presidential campaign, a shattering of the glass ceiling every bit as impressive as Hillary Clinton.
"He has raised his daughter to be just as much of a businesswoman as either of his sons."
RMIT international political expert Joe Siracusa said many women thought Mr Trump was "talking trash" and overlooked his comments due to other problems they faced.
Professor Siracusa labelled Mr Trump "an appalling human being" and said he had cultivated a voter base sympathetic towards conspiracy theories.
"He's as dumb as Ronald Reagan and meaner than Richard Nixon," Professor Siracusa said.
"But I accept he had a base out there. And they were conspiratorial alright, they thought professional wrestling was real and the moon landing was a fake.
"I doubt Kmart would hire him the way he talks."
During the program, Mr Joyce repeatedly pointed out that circumstances in the US were different to those in Australia.
But he also condemned Mr Trump for "utterly inappropriate" comments about women.
Mr Joyce said Trump backers believed the media was biased and felt Mrs Clinton was a symbol of the establishment.
"They were so angry they still voted for him," he said.
ANU international security expert Dr Jennifer Hunt said Mr Trump repeatedly changed his stance on issues and had not come under enough scrutiny.
"He talked about dating his daughter — that she was so hot. And so I think it's important to note that all of those questions, and all of that sort of bad character weren't covered well in the primaries," Dr Hunt said.
"By the time we got to the nomination, it becomes one party against another and you had a huge contingent, including in the female vote, of anti-Clinton."
Did Trump win the racist vote?
Labor's Kate Ellis said Mr Trump "clearly said things that were racist", such as the claim that Mexican rapists were living in the US as illegal immigrants.
However Ms Andrews, the only Trump supporter on the panel, rejected any suggestion the President-elect had ridden a wave of racial resentment to win office.
"The accusation that he's a racist bigot is thrown about very casually," Ms Andrews said.
"When you ask people what do you mean by that, what's your evidence for this outlandish claim, it's things like he wants to enforce the border. That's not anti-Latino, that's pro-sovereignty.
"He supports law enforcement. That's anti-rioting.
"The radical Black Lives Matter movement has low support in the black community because those are the communities that are most victimised."
Topics: parliament, federal-parliament, federal-government, elections, government-and-politics, us-elections, immigration, australia
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