Malcolm Turnbull mysteriously likes tweet supporting Kerryn Phelps in Wentworth

MALCOLM Turnbull has been weirdly quiet in the lead-up to Saturday’s by-election, but this morning he may have dropped a mysterious clue about his view.

MALCOLM Turnbull has been conspicuously quiet this week.

With just days left before the by-election to fill his old seat, Wentworth, the former prime minister has said nothing in support of the Liberal Party’s candidate, Dave Sharma. Or anyone else, for that matter.

But this morning Mr Turnbull raised eyebrows by mysteriously liking a tweet expressing support for Mr Sharma’s biggest rival, independent Kerryn Phelps.

“Back handing out policy info and how-to-vote cards for Kerryn Phelps at Waverley Oval pre-polling station. No longer wondering ‘Where’s Malcolm?’ Just hoping for a strong independent win on Saturday,” the tweet from a campaign volunteer said.

A photo of a cardboard cutout of Mr Turnbull, asking ‘Where’s Malcolm?’, accompanied it.

Malcolm Turnbull's intriguing like on Twitter.

The like was undone within minutes, and no longer appears on Mr Turnbull’s feed.

It is unclear why he liked the tweet, but the act will feed speculation that Mr Turnbull shares his son Alex’s desire to see the Liberals beaten in Wentworth on Saturday.

“If you want to find out what Mr Turnbull thinks, you should direct your questions to him,” former prime minister John Howard said today while campaigning alongside Mr Sharma.

“A lot of people here are sad that he’s no longer the leader and no longer the member here,” Mr Howard admitted.

Turnbull junior, 36, has been publicly urging voters to send his father’s old party a message by voting against it. This week he suggested they should choose Dr Phelps — a result which would rob the government of its one-seat majority in parliament.

Alex has repeatedly denied he is speaking out on behalf of his father. On Monday, he told ABC radio he was “absolutely not” doing Mr Turnbull’s dirty work.

“He’s out of office, I’m a private citizen, we can both do as we please,” he said.

Last night, speaking to Triple J, Alex said his father did not approve of his stance on the by-election, but was “dealing with it”.

“I’ll just leave it at that,” he said.

RELATED: Turnbull’s son names top ‘crazies’ in Liberal Party

Alex hammered the Liberals’ right wingers and said a big part of his father’s record was “fighting the good fight against the crazies”.

Asked who he was referring to, he proceeded to list the top five “crazy” MPs and senators by name.

Tony Abbott was at the top of that list. Alex described him as “a singularly destructive human being”.

Peter Dutton, the man whose ambitions sparked the leadership chaos that brought down Mr Turnbull’s prime ministership, was second.

He was followed by Energy Minister Angus Taylor, whose stance on climate change and renewable energy clearly bothered Alex.

“Despite being very intelligent, he can’t get on the right side of events,” he explained.

Conservative faction leaders Kevin Andrews and Eric Abetz rounded out the list, tied in fourth place.

Wentworth candidates Dave Sharma and Kerryn Phelps. Pic: News Corp

Mr Turnbull appeared to sympathise with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, saying he suffered from “the same problem my dad had”.

“He’s got some very, very crazy people to deal with who are not particularly rational political actors,” he said.

“Being the leader of the Liberal Party and being sane is like being Bruce Willis in a Die Hard movie. It’s always crazy and bad but hopefully you come out and get some stuff done.”

While he paid particular attention to a group he called the “Triple-A” of crazies — “Abbott, Andrews, Abetz” — Mr Turnbull admitted that “frankly, there are people in the Labor Party who are a bit nuts too”.

“It’s just that they’re not dog-whistling to Nazis,” he added.