Mark Latham has doubled down and refused to apologise for a homophobic tweet he has since deleted about a fellow NSW politician.
The One Nation NSW leader broke his silence on Saturday about the vile post he had made about the openly-gay independent MP Alex Greenwich.
‘Sometimes in public life when you throw out insults they come back at you harder and truer … So boo-hoo Alex Greenwich,’ he told The Saturday Telegraph.
His comment comes two days after he made the disparaging tweet where he made a crude reference to same-sex intercourse.
Mark Latham has broken his silence on a homophobic tweet he has since deleted about independent MP Alex Greenwich
Mr Latham fired off the tweet after he was labelled a ‘disgusting human being’ by Mr Greenwich for attending a rally where Christians clashed with LGBTQI activists outside St Michaels Church in Belfield, south-west Sydney, on March 21.
‘Disgusting? How does that compare with sticking your d*** up a bloke’s a*** and covering it with s***?’ Mr Latham wrote.
Mr Latham removed the tweet following backlash but made another cryptic post on Friday where he said, ‘never apologise, never explain’.
The post was then deleted with Mr Latham remaining silent on the matter before he finally released a statement two days after the homophobic tweet was made.
Mr Latham chose to continue his attack against Mr Greenwich.
‘When he calls someone a disgusting human being for attending a meeting in a church hall, maybe attention will turn to some of his habits,’ he said.
Mr Latham explained the reason why he deleted the tweet even though he remains unapologetic for posting it.
‘Greenwich goes into schools talking to kids about being gay,’ he said.
‘I didn’t want to be accused of anything similar, leaving that kind of content on my socials.’
Daily Mail Australia contacted Mr Latham and Mr Greenwich for comment.
NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe was the latest to join the pile-on saying the tweet was ‘completely unacceptable’ and renewed calls for Mr Latham to apologise.
‘Mark Latham and his behaviour over the last couple of days is completely unacceptable,’ Ms Sharpe said.
‘There’s no place for it in NSW. There’s no place for it in NSW politics. There’s no place for it in our community.’
Late on Friday, Mr Latham tweeted ‘Never apologise, never explain’ in response to his own homophobic tweet that sparked widespread condemnation and led NSW Premier Chris Minns to label him a ‘bigot’.
‘I think that they’re vile and shameful comments and I think (Mr Latham) revealed himself to be a bigot,’ the premier said on Friday.
Mr Greenwich was an ‘extraordinarily effective’ politician who ‘manages to elevate the conversation and make major changes in the state,’ Mr Minns said.
‘One of the things that can’t be forgotten is that comments like this, even though in and of themselves they’re terrible, they unleash ghouls on people like Alex.
‘It’s not what we need in public life.
‘There should be an unambiguous and universal condemnation of these comments,’ he said.
The One Nation NSW leader remained unapologetic on Saturday about the vile post he had made about the openly-gay independent MP
The parliament is currently unable to discipline Mr Latham, Ms Sharpe said, as he used a loophole in the upper house system allowing him to resign as an MP before the state election and recontest his seat.
Mr Latham is set to return to parliament during the next session, with a renewed eight-year term.
‘The best thing that Mr Latham could do is to apologise to Mr Greenwich,’ Ms Sharpe said.
‘That’s what we want him to do today.
‘Let’s see in terms of what happens after the press of the button on the upper house ballot on the 20th of April.’
Federal leader of One Nation, Pauline Hanson, and conservative commentators Ray Hadley and Andrew Bolt also criticised Mr Latham for the tweet.
The tweet was also called disgusting by Transport Minister Jo Haylen, who said she did not think the NSW One Nation leader was up to his job.
‘Of course he should apologise but it’s Mark Latham. I don’t think anyone should be holding their breath.
‘Personally I don’t think he is fit for public office.’
The homophobic attack briefly brought Mr Greenwich to tears on Thursday, the popular Sydney MP told reporters.
‘This has obviously been hurtful for me. I had a bit of a cry late yesterday at the end of the day,’ he told reporters on Friday.
‘After being in this gig for a decade and getting re-elected, I didn’t think I’d still be subjected to homophobic abuse.’
However, Mr Greenwich refused to call for Mr Latham to apologise or resign.
‘I don’t want to give him another soapbox for him to pretend to be a victim when he seeks to victimise people.’
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk