Just last month he interviewed Chris Sidoti, a member of a UN Commission of Inquiry which ruled Israel’s actions in response to Hamas’ October 7 atrocity constitutes genocide. So what went wrong with Hedges?
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Marr kicked the interview off by asking if Hedges had compromised his journalistic credibility by travelling to Australia as a guest of a Palestinian advocacy group (he came to present the Edward Said Memorial Lecture in Adelaide).
Marr then challenged a blog post Hedges wrote suggesting the Press Club asked the Israeli ambassador to speak on Monday in his stead – which the press club denied.
After eight minutes, they got into Hedges’ thesis that the Western media gives disproportionate weight to claims made by the Israeli military even when they directly contradict reports by Palestinian journalists on the ground in Gaza.
Marr said he was no stranger to examining the media’s sins but called some of Hedges’ evidence “really, really thin”.
Hedges was clearly still bristling at the exchange several hours later.
“He’s a real piece of shit,” he told the audience to applause. “And by the way, that’s what I told him when I left.”
CBD asked Marr about Hedge’s scatological appraisal.
“It’s elegant,” he said. “I think he’s brought all of his considerable talents to bear on that judgment.”
Marr said he agreed that some reporting on Gaza has been “terrible” and that the Israeli government regularly bullies the media to suppress negative stories, but called Hedge’s wholesale condemnation of the world’s largest media outlets “exaggerated”.
“I was not for a moment defending Israel. I was questioning the really shoddy evidence he brought forward for a damning, wide-reaching critique of Western journalism.”
If an interview with the ABC lefty archetype Marr triggered such a blow-up, we can only imagine how Hedges would have gotten along with the Canberra press pack.
MAGA to Melbourne
Was there anything Anthony Albanese didn’t offer Donald Trump in their much-anticipated meeting in Washington early Tuesday morning (our time)?
It’s a deal… Antony Albanese and President Trump shake hands after signing the minerals agreement.Credit: Getty
An AUKUS deal in which Australia pays billions to prop up America’s naval shipyards without a guarantee the US will ever hand over a nuclear-powered submarine in return? Yes, please!
Access to Australia’s wealth of critical minerals to hedge against China’s stranglehold on the stuff amid Trump’s trade war? Thank you very much.
And to top it all off: an invitation to visit Australia. And Melbourne, no less!
Albanese said a Trump visit could coincide with the Presidents Cup, set to be held at Melbourne’s Kingston Health Golf Club in 2028.
The golf-mad Trump said he would seriously consider the offer.
Trump and American golfer Bryson DeChambeau at the Ryder Cup this year.Credit: AP
“I actually have been to Australia, and did play one of your great golf courses, have great golf courses there,” he said.
Perhaps the orange one was unaware of the existence of a big, beautiful city to the north.
Trump skipped Australia entirely during his first term. The last sitting president to visit Melbourne was George H.W Bush in 1992. His brief stop provoked crowds of anti-war protesters hurling rocks, bottles, cricket balls, horse shoes and mud at police. Sound familiar?
Trump is already facing massive “No Kings” protests at home, and he won’t have the option of sending in the National Guard to shut down Collingwood.
Police clash with angry protesters during the last visit by a US president to Melbourne in 1992.Credit: Philip Castle
Scheduling could also be tight.
While the date of the 2028 Presidents Cup has not been confirmed, tour group operators say they expect it to be held in November or early December.
The next US presidential election falls on November 7. Trump’s second term finishes on January 20, 2029.
Trump has repeatedly suggested he will run for a third term, the 22nd Amendment notwithstanding. Even if he develops a newfound respect for the US Constitution and doesn’t run, surely he’ll be on the hustings to support his MAGA successor.
On the other hand, California governor Gavin Newsom spoke for many Americans when he recently expressed fear that “we will not have an election in 2028″ if the increasingly authoritarian Trump wasn’t reined in.
America might lose its democracy, but at least Melbourne could win a visit from its new king.
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