Nine to report Mark Latham to authorities over ‘racist’ tweet slamming leaders’ debate host Sarah Abo

Channel 9 says it will report One Nation MP Mark Latham to authorities for his tweet about debate moderator Sarah Abo, which he insists was not “racist”.

Channel 9 has hit back at Mark Latham over his tweet about election debate moderator Sarah Abo, calling it “racist” and “totally unacceptable”.

Mr Latham stunned social media users with his take on Sunday night’s event, criticising Ms Abo in offensive terms.

Taking to Twitter after the debate between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Labor leader Anthony Albanese concluded, Mr Latham wrote: “Never trust an Abo with something as important as that.”

“The tweet from Mark Latham last night is a disgrace, racist and totally unacceptable,” said Darren Wick, the network’s Director of News and Current Affairs.

“Sarah Abo is an outstanding journalist and handled the robust nature of a debate of this scale with intelligence, calmness and professionalism.

“That can’t be said for Mr Latham’s tweet. We will be reporting his comments to authorities.”

Mr Latham told The Daily Telegraph on Monday the tweet had been misinterpreted and the meaning of words is up to the writer and not the listener.

“The outrage industry fails to understand how words can have multiple meanings, and the true meaning lies with the speaker not necessarily the listener,” he said.

As for why he put the word “an” before Abo’s name, he said: “That’s like Bill Clinton and it depending on what the meaning of ‘is’ is.”

During the former US president’s grand jury testimony regarding his affair with Monica Lewinsky in 1988, he was asked “is that correct?” following a statement about the pair’s sexual relationship.

“It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is,” Mr Clinton responded.

He later explained that while his answers were “legally accurate”, he did not volunteer information.

One Nation MP Mark Latham has infuriated Australians with a tweet about 60 minutes reporter Sarah Abo. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

NSW MP Matt Kean said Mr Latham’s tweet was “appalling trolling on social media”.

“His thinly veiled racist comment here is clearly deliberate. Race is not a political punchline – words like that are hateful and divisive,” he wrote on Twitter.

Indigenous leader and Liberal Party politician Warren Mundine said Mr Latham couldn’t ignore what he’d done and needed to explain why he said “an Abo”.

“He just can’t get away with that type of stuff. Everyone knows I’m a conservative Aboriginal but it’s just the worst thing you can be called,” Mr Mundine said, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Warren Mundine said Mr Latham couldn’t just get away with writing what he did. Picture: John Feder/The Australian

Mr Latham posted on Twitter on Monday morning: “It’s a sewer on this thing”.

Countless Aussies had criticised him for attempting to use a racial slur to make a joke at the debate host’s expense.

While there were some supporters, the tweet sparked plenty of outrage among Twitter users, with one posting: “Not sure about this one Mark” and another urging him to “get in the bin”.

“Wow, I mean wow. I’m old enough to remember when even Mark Latham didn’t say this sort of stuff out loud,” another added.

“Not the flex you thought that comment was champ, what a revolting man you are,” another posted, while another wrote: “And you wonder why no one asked for your two cents.”

“Snickering like a schoolboy I bet. C’mon Mark, this is tasteless. And you know it,” another angry Twitter user posted.

News.com.au contacted Mr Latham for comment.

The debate

Voting stuff-ups on the night initially saw Channel 9’s political reporters declare Mr Morrison the winner, before the results shifted just minutes later after more votes from viewers began to trickle in.

Ultimately, the network declared the result to be a “dead heat”.

There was also controversy during the debate itself, when the leaders repeatedly interrupted and spoke over Ms Abo as she struggled to gain control as the event descended into a shouting match between the leaders.

At one point, debate host Sarah Abo was repeatedly interrupted. Picture: Channel 9

Ms Abo repeatedly tried to bring things back under control after the Prime Minister and Labor leader both lost their temper in a heated argument over the Solomon Islands and China, ending in a nasty war of words.

In an attempt to stop the duo from arguing, Ms Abo said: “I think we are getting more questions “ … Excuse me. I think we’re getting more questions between the two of you than from our panel”.

Once more, she tried to interject, saying: “Mr Morrison and Mr Albanese, this is enough, we do need to move on”.

“You both agreed to the rules,” Ms Abo pleaded at one point, as the two men shouted over her and each other.

The ugly scenes started with Mr Morrison being asked to define what his “red line” would entail if China established a military base in the Solomons.

The debate descended into a nasty war of words. Picture: James Brickwood – Pool/Getty Images

But there was plenty of support for Ms Abo, with The Guardian editor Lenore Taylor describing the leaders’ actions as “truly terrible” and asking “where is the moderator” on Twitter.

“Allowing the two speakers to simply butt in whenever they want and question each other whenever they want and talk over each other for as long as they like without any sign of the moderator is a serious mistake here. It makes for painful, unwatchable viewing,” Australian political and social commentator Ronni Salt added.