Rita Panahi: Anthony Albanese needs to explain why he decided to cosy up with Abbie Chatfield

Anthony Albanese needs to explain why he appeared on butt-plug promoting social media influencer Abbie Chatfield’s podcast, after her latest unhinged, ugly diatribe made headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Anthony Albanese has some explaining to do about the company he keeps. Why did the Prime Minister cosy up to butt-plug promoting social media influencer Abbie Chatfield, who has spoken gleefully about Liberal voters “dying out” and banned 90 per cent of Jews from appearing on her program.

Chatfield’s extreme positions were evident well before Albanese decided to appear on her podcast, for a lengthy interview, in the lead-up to the federal election.

The PM’s lack of judgement was back in the spotlight this week after Chatfield’s latest online contribution made headlines for all the wrong reasons.

The Leftist feminist reality TV contestant turned Instagram influencer posted a video encouraging Americans to assassinate President Donald Trump. She even tried to entice lonely “incels” (involuntarily celibate men) to kill the president as that would win them the respect and attention of women.

“You know what would actually make people respect you a little bit, and maybe want to f**k you is if you did it,” she said. “You’d get heaps of fan mail. Oh my God. Oh my God. Just do it.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese talks with Abbie Chatfield on her podcast.

It was an unhinged, ugly diatribe from an attention-seeking simpleton with a big social media platform, one that was legitimised and enhanced when the prime minister granted her a 90-minute interview earlier this year.

To incite violence against the sitting US president, who has already survived more than one assassin, is not just deranged but utterly unconscionable.

The PM should disavow the comments. You can be sure that the Canberra press gallery would be demanding an explanation if a conservative politician had granted a lengthy interview to a podcaster who made similarly vile comments.

The PM sat down for a 90 minute interview with Chatfield last year. Picture: Binge

And Albanese can hardly claim ignorance as a defence. Chatfield’s extreme positions have long been clear, including her antagonism towards the Jewish community. Jewish leaders have been among those highly critical of her decision to ban “Zionists” (ie 90 per cent of Jews) from appearing on her show, a decision she made weeks after the October 7 terrorist attacks. “Whether she realises it or not, her ban on Zionists means she is excluding all Jews except those who actively support the abolition of a Jewish state,” Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said. “At a time when the Jewish world is bleeding from the October 7 atrocities and global antisemitism, her attempts to exclude and denigrate Jews and use her platform to deplatform most Jews, are shameful and disgusting …We’re not going to submit to her perverse purity tests.”

Mr Albanese should reflect on why he thought it was a good idea to bolster such an objectionable character particularly at a time when the Jewish community is facing an unprecedented wave of antisemitism and anti-Israel hostility.

One can only hope that the Trump administration does not become aware of the PM’s links with Chatfield.

Rita Panahi is a Herald Sun columnist

Originally published as Rita Panahi: Anthony Albanese needs to explain why he decided to cosy up with Abbie Chatfield