Australians have long memories in politics. Over the last 20 years, they have got to know the vibe of the #Coalition very well. They could sense that #Trump is king-pig at the end of slippery pigsty-slope inhabited by hard-right populists like #Howard, like #Abbott, #Morrison, #Dutton and most of his Liberal National colleagues, particularly since the moderates lost to Teals, or to #Liberal factional warring.
When Dutton worked out that his Trump-like politics might be problematic, he made a concerted effort to put away the #MAGA hats. This attempt at pivoting was the reason the Coalition’s campaign looked like such a mess. Asking Dutton and his colleagues to hide their MAGA is like asking the Labor Party not to defend Medicare. Dutton tried #backflipping from #policies, tried to stop talking about #nuclear, worked to present a different face.
But ultimately, in the final two weeks, this shapeshifting became too hard and Dutton gave in to his base instincts. He dived back into the culture-warring like a pig in mud with his attacks on #welcomeTocountry ceremonies and his #preference deal with #OneNation. All this did was remind Australians how Trump-like he is. #auspol
