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Vice Blog

Pauline Hanson Is Fine With Trump's 'Pussy' Comments

"There are women as well who say vulgar things," argued the One Nation senator on Monday's edition of Sunrise.

One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson has come to Donald Trump's defence after he was sprung bragging that women let him "grab them by the pussy."

"Now, let's be honest about it, there are a lot of men out there that say horrific things, probably up to the same standard," Hanson said on Monday morning's edition of Sunrise. She added "there are women as well who say vulgar things".

The One Nation leader admitted she found the comments "vulgar," and doesn't support them, but felt they did not warrant calls for Trump to drop out of the race.

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Hanson also implied the remarks should be taken with a grain of salt as Trump didn't realise he was being recorded. "It was said, not on camera, it was said behind the scenes and was a tape recording."

The 2005 footage captured Trump speaking in reference woman on the set of Days of our Lives. The Republican presidential nominee said "You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful [women]. I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything…Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything."

The recording has left the Trump campaign in shambles, with many top Republicans rescinding their support for their nominee. Some have called for him to drop out of the race. Trump has indicated no such thing will happen, and we can only assume Hanson—a public Trump supporter—is pleased.

Senator Derryn Hinch, who also appeared on Sunrise, interrupted Hanson to vehemently disagree. "No, Pauline!" he exclaimed, "A normal man in a private conversation would not talk about this. A normal man, Pauline, would never consider invading a woman's space so much that he would…" the senator paused, before concluding, "that is sexual assault."

After the live interview concluded, cameras captured the pair continuing to clash in the hallways of parliament house. Heading towards an elevator, an angered Hinch told Hanson "That you as a woman could even make justification for what he has said and what he has done is…," seemingly too upset to finish his sentence.

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Hanson responded, "Well, I didn't condone what he said." Hinch didn't accept the senator's reply, saying "No, you said the people of America will decide. If you are even slightly right, then God help the country and God help the world."

"The man is a sexual predator and he is a disgrace," Hinch concluded, before leaving in the elevator.

Prime minister Turnbull has also condemned Trump's comments, telling reporters "They were loathsome and they deserve the absolutely universal condemnation that they have received."

This morning's Hanson-Hinch clash is not the first time the two senators have traded insults on air. In 2015 —before either had been elected to Parliament—Hinch criticised Hanson on the same programme, Sunrise. The pair were on a panel discussing the former Abbott government's plan to increase Australia's intake of Syrian refugees.

After the One Nation leader made inflammatory and unsubstantiated comments about Syrian refugees "taking jobs" in Rockhampton, Hinch exploded.

"It's offensive even having you on the bloody program!" he said, continuing "It's a special case of the worst refugee situation and displacement of people since World War II. The world can't sit back and do nothing!"