This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia, which closed in 2021.

U.S. Political Expert On Trump: 'I Doubt Kmart Would Hire Him'

'He's as dumb as Ronald Reagan and meaner than Richard Nixon.'
ABC

You might not have heard of Joseph Siracusa, but after his appearance on the ABC's Q&A on Monday night, his name is one you'll remember.

The RMIT Professor of Human Security and International Diplomacy is globally regarded for his political commentary and on Monday night he did not hold back on President-elect Trump.

"I think he's an appalling human being," he began.

"I don't think he has any damn policies. He's as dumb as Ronald Reagan and meaner than Richard Nixon," Siracusa told the Q&A live audience.

"But I accept he had a base out there. And they were conspiratorial alright -- they thought professional wrestling was real and the moon landing was a fake. I understand, I grew up in the Midwest, but I thought he was an appalling human being."

*Deep breath*

"You can't say those things in public and expect us to forget it the day after. He couldn't work in an Australian university. I doubt Kmart would hire him the way he talks," the American expatriate continued.

"Whether he sticks to policy, we don't know. He started to unveil policies and I think he will be a conventional President in one sense. I'm appalled that the world thinks we think that is the new normal. It is not the new normal."

You can watch the entire dressing-down here:

Siracusa was joined by Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, Labor MP Kate Ellis and two other U.S. political experts, Jennifer Hunt and Helen Andrews, as the panel debated what Trump's election meant for women, racial minorities and foreign policies.

Joyce was also appalled by Trump's comments about women, but said his stance on border control (yes, the wall) won him votes and wasn't dissimilar to Australia's own border security policies.

"If you want to prevail, you have to show you have control of your borders. If you don't, and you can't prove that, despite what people feel in this room, people will vote you out and very, very quickly," Joyce said.

"These things are political imperatives. So what President-elect Trump has talked about there, he has exacerbated, but it manifests something in an issue, building a wall, which really explains what a lot of people's concerns are. Do you have control of our borders? We do the same thing here on both sides of the political fence."

On Sunday, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the federal government has reached a one-off deal with the U.S to take "genuine" refugees currently living in Australia's offshore processing centres on Nauru and Manus Island.

Since then, there has been intense speculation over whether the President-elect will honour the agreement when he comes into power on January 20, which was secretly made earlier this year when Australia agreed to take a number of refugees from Central America.

On Monday night, Turnbull and Dutton remained confident the agreement would be honoured and when it was put to the panel, all three U.S. political experts unanimously agreed, including outspoken Trump advocate Helen Andrews.

She did not seem to think Siracusa nailed it.

Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia. Certain site features have been disabled. If you have questions or concerns, please check our FAQ or contact support@huffpost.com.