Bridget McKenzie claims ‘knob’ comment could derail Trump tariff talks

A state premier’s rogue remark about the US Vice President could play a role in deciding if Australia gets a tariff carve out, a senior opposition senator claims.

A state premier’s rogue remark calling US Vice President JD Vance a “knob” could influence whether Australia gets exempted from sweeping Trump administration tariffs set to kick in this week, according to a senior coalition senator.

Western Australian Premier Roger Cook, who just secured a landslide victory at the state polls, made the comment during a pre-election event earlier this week.

He has since brushed it off as a “lighthearted, non-professional moment” and said he “didn’t mean any offence”.

But opposition infrastructure spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie on Sunday said the “juvenile” joke threatened Australia’s standing with the US.

Coalition frontbencher Bridget McKenzie says Mr Cook’s ‘juvenile’ joke threatens Australia’s standing with the US. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“I don’t think calling the Vice President of America a knob whilst the Chinese are circumnavigating and just off the coast here in WA was the best strategy,” she told Sky News when asked for her thoughts on the tariff talks.

She acknowledged that Mr Cook did not represent the federal government, but suggested the Trump administration would not know the difference.

“America doesn’t look at it like (that),” Senator McKenzie said.

“This is our most important ally. The Coalition was able to secure an exemption when we were in government, when this last came up … but it was all based on relationships.”

She said Mr Cook’s comment was part of a pattern of unsavoury remarks from Labor about Donald Trump.

Western Australian Premier Roger Cook called US Vice President JD Vance a ‘knob’. Picture: Alex Wroblewski / AFP

Mr Vance (middle) once likened US President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler. Picture: Win McNamee / POOL / AFP

“You’ve got an ambassador that’s trash talked President Trump,” Senator McKenzie continued.

“You’ve got a prime minister who said he’s scared, (a) foreign affairs minister whose language was also pretty loose in the past about current President Trump, and then you’ve had the Premier’s comments.”

Kevin Rudd, Australia’s ambassador to the US, has over the years called the US President a “village idiot”, “nuts”, the “most destructive president in history” and a “traitor to the West”.

In 2017, Anthony Albanese joked during a Q&A at a music festival that Mr Trump “scares the sh*t out of me”, adding that he thought “it’s of some concern the leader of the free world thinks that you can conduct politics through 140 characters on Twitter overnight”.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Mr Trump “was prepared to trash alliances and partnerships for personal political interest” in a 2021 interview.

“We don’t need juvenile responses with our most important ally at a serious geo-strategic moment,” Senator McKenzie said.

But Mr Trump is no stranger to insults — Mr Vance once compared him to Adolf Hitler.

The Albanese government has insisted relationship building with the new administration has been progressing well, with Washington hosting several cabinet ministers for high level talks.

Mr Cook has bushed off his description of Mr Vance as a ‘lighthearted, non-professional moment’. Picture: POOL / NewsWire / Kelsey Reid

Mr Cook’s description of Mr Vance made international headlines.

It came days after Mr Vance and Mr Trump berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a broadcast exchange at the White House.

At the pre-election event in Perth, a journalist asked Mr Cook to finish the sentence: “JD Vance is a …”

“Knob,” he replied, sparking laughter and applause.

He also said the Trump administration represented an “uncertain” road.