The Second Leaders Debate Has Been Dubbed A “Genuine Shit Blizzard”
"Dear God. Make it stop."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and opposition leader Anthony Albanese went head to head in the second debate of the election campaign last night, hosted by Nine.
By most accounts, the debate was an absolute mess, with The Guardian’s Katharine Murphy dubbing it “a genuine shit blizzard”. The debate has been criticised for its weird format, lack of moderation and simply the fact that we had to listen to both Morrison and Albanese’s incoherent ramblings so late on a school night.
In an extremely weird move considering the ABC offered earlier timeslots of any day, the debate didn’t kick off until after Lego Masters and Big Brother.
Tuning into Channel 9 to watch some of the nation’s smartest minds in square off in a ruthless battle of intellect
but now that Lego Masters is over, I’m also looking forward to watching the leaders election debate too
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) May 8, 2022
That deafening sound you can hear is Australia switching off Lego Masters before the “debate” begins.
— Mike Carlton (@MikeCarlton01) May 8, 2022
It was truly a painful watch for anyone who endured the experience last night.
Should I watch the debate or should I insert a burning hot needle into the eye of my penis
— Benjamin Law 羅旭能 (@mrbenjaminlaw) May 8, 2022
Dear God. Make it stop. #leadersdebate
— Karen Middleton (@KarenMMiddleton) May 8, 2022
Thankfully, between the endless interruptions and “gotcha” questions, we did manage to get some entertainment in the form of Albanese serving this slam-dunk on the PM.
Did Albanese just say Morrison’s economic policies have “all the sincerity of a fake tan?”
Zingers starting early
— Eden Gillespie (@edengillespie) May 8, 2022
While we’re on the topic of jokes, Morrison — who promised, and failed to deliver a federal ICAC — also asserted that he’s never seen corruption in the Liberal party. So, I guess we’ll just have to take his word for it!
Scott Morrison says he has never seen corruption in the Liberal party.
— Amy Remeikis (@AmyRemeikis) May 8, 2022
The three pre-election debates are designed to target undecided voters, giving both leaders the opportunity to sway them in their favour. However, the second debate ended up being so messy that it likely just left undecided voters even more confused.
undecided voters watching this debate pic.twitter.com/2e91OsuOZA
— casey briggs (@CaseyBriggs) May 8, 2022
It’s hard to tell who actually won the debate because there are reports that Nine’s voting system was malfunctioning and making it impossible to actually vote for Albanese.
this is what you see when you go to vote in Nine's #debate viewer poll via the QR code on mobile pic.twitter.com/efUjxA0om5
— Leonardo Puglisi (@Leo_Puglisi6) May 8, 2022
Why the Libs own 9
So they can deliver propaganda and rig debate voting #LeadersDebate #Rigged #auspol pic.twitter.com/MbjDAcExTa
— John 💉 💉 💉 (@JohnnyRadish) May 8, 2022
Ultimately, Nine deemed it a 50/50 split for each leader, but if you ask social media, the only winners are the people who didn’t watch this dumpster fire.
who won this debate? everyone who didn’t watch.
— Shane Bazzi (@shanebazzi) May 8, 2022
The 2022 federal election is less than two weeks away and the pre-polls have officially opened today for those wishing to cast their vote early.