The Liberal Candidate In A Crucial Election Has Apologised For A 20yo Rape Joke
Things aren't going well for John Alexander.
The Liberal candidate in the crucial Bennelong by-election, John Alexander, has apologised after a 22-year-old video of him telling a rape joke re-surfaced.
Alexander, who resigned from Parliament earlier this month over suspicions he was a dual citizen, is running to re-capture his seat on December 16. His Labor opponent is former NSW Premier Kristina Keneally, who is closing the gap on Alexander according to the latest polling.
The video was re-surfaced by BuzzFeed News this morning, and shows Alexander telling two jokes in a Brisbane pub in 1995.
The first joke shows Alexander putting on an Irish accent as he talks about a priest in the confessional and two men looking to have an affair with three women. The second joke involves “a black guy in Chicago” who is accused of rape.
Alexander apologised unreservedly for the joke as soon as BuzzFeed’s story was published.
“More than 20 years ago I told crude and inappropriate jokes, which were completely unacceptable and I apologise unreservedly. There is no place for jokes about violence against women. Again, I apologise unreservedly,” he said.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has condemned the joke, but praised Alexander for apologising unreservedly and immediately.
“Not all disrespect of women ends up in violence against women but that’s where all violence against women begins, so all of us need to reflect on that,” Turnbull told reporters this morning. “John has done so.”
It’s been a bad week for Alexander on the campaign trail. On Tuesday night, he was widely mocked on social media after posting a photo of himself “chatting to local residents”, using a phone that wasn’t plugged in.
Alexander is the second member of the House of Representatives to resign due to the ongoing dual citizenship fiasco, after former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce.
Should Alexander lose the Bennelong by-election, the government will lose its majority in the House of Representatives, meaning it will need to rely on the votes of crossbenchers to remain in power.
A loss in Bennelong would also have grave consequences for Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership, as his polls continue to collapse and the dual citizenship saga drags on.