Josh Frydenberg denounces George Christensen’s virus stance as MP doubles down on social media

One rebel MP has likened himself to one award-winning actor in Academy Award winning war movie Braveheart. Here’s why.

Rebel MP George Christensen has likened himself to Braveheart in the wake of a controversial interview with a far-right US conspiracy theorist.

In a now-deleted post to a private Telegram group, Mr Christensen posted the “never take our freedom” scene from Braveheart, with his face superimposed over Mel Gibson.

He captioned the video: “How I feel after 24 hours of non-stop criticism for opposing lockdowns, vaccine mandates and medical segregation.”

In a post to a private Telegram group, Mr Christensen likened himself to Braveheart.

The 1995 Academy Award winning film loosely depicts the life of late 13th century Scottish Warrior Sir William Wallace, who led the Scots in their battle against King Edward I of England.

In the scene, Mel Gibson character delivers the line as a rallying cry to his troops ahead of battle.

Mr Christensen has been slammed by all sides of politics after his inflammatory interview with far-right US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on his InfoWars program.

During the interview, Mr Christensen urged people living abroad to rise up against the Australian government.

Outgoing George Christensen caused an uproar after he appeared on InfoWars. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

He also laughed as Mr Jones compared Australia’s quarantine facilities with the Auschwitz concentration camp.

“The rest of the free world, please stand with us, please support us,” Mr Christensen said.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, whose parents are Jewish immigrants, revealed he had received a personal apology from Mr Christensen following the interview.

“Any analogy between the Holocaust and lockdowns, quarantine, mandatory vaccinations or any of the aspects of the response to Covid-19 are not just inaccurate [and] false … but they are also incredibly insensitive and lack any sense of historical perspective,” he told Seven’s Sunrise.

“I rang George yesterday and spoke to him and he did apologise to me. And I reminded him about the importance, obviously, of our comments in these particular areas.

The Treasurer, who is Jewish, told reporters on Wednesday that Mr Christen had apologised. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Sarah Matray

“It doesn’t matter whether it is a colleague of mine, protesters on the streets of Victoria against Daniel Andrews … we have a collective responsibility and duty to speak out about those very false analogies.”

However, in a post to his Facebook page late Tuesday evening, Mr Christensen doubled down on his comments, writing claims that he compared quarantine camps to Auschwitz were a “lie”.

But on social media, Mr Christensen seems to be doubling down on his comments.

“After a whole day of fake news media and political elitist hand wringing over my Alex Jones interview, I invite people to watch it for themselves and be the judge of whether my comments warrant such hyperventilation,” he said.

“And I want to point this one out for absolute clarity: claims that I compared quarantine camps to Auschwitz are a LIE.”

It comes after a dressing down from both Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce.

Speaking with ABC RN, Nationals colleague Darren Chester said he wouldn’t miss the rebel MP when he retires at the next election.

“I don't want to wish ill of anyone, but I think his time in parliament has passed, and it won’t be a sad day for me when he’s no longer a member of parliament,” he said on Wednesday morning.

But Mr Chester stopped short of calling for party to strip him of his membership.

“I‘ve been troubled by a lot of the comments that colleagues have made,” he said.

“Each of the state jurisdictions holds their members of parliament to account, so it's up to the executive of the (Queensland) LNP to hold George to account.”