Deborah Knight hits back at critics over her appearance
Deborah Knight has hit back at critics who panned her appearance during her interview with Pauline Hanson.
The Today host took to Instagram to respond to a harsh remark about her hair during the interview with the One Nation leader, where the two sat down to discuss Hanson’s statement on the Port Arthur massacre in the Al Jazeera investigation.
The criticism, which was posted on Instagram, read: “Don’t worry about her Deb! Focus on fixing your hair cut.. Bloody shocking.”
46-year-old Knight wrote alongside a picture of the Instagram comment: “Ah the joys of social media. No my hair wasn’t 'done' for my interview with Pauline Hanson – nor was my makeup the full tilt.
“I literally just jumped on a plane with no time. I know it’s a visual medium but sometimes the substance is more important than the style.”
In the Today interview, which was broadcast on Friday morning, Hanson denied that she and One Nation intended to water down Australia’s gun laws.
The Al Jazeera’s How to Sell a Massacre investigation previously revealed that Hanson suggested the 1996 massacre in Port Arthur, Tasmania, which left 35 people dead, was a government conspiracy.
“Those shots, they were precision shots,” the Queensland senator was recorded saying. “Check the number out … a lot of questions there.”
The two-part series also showed that One Nation officials Steve Dickson and James Ashby met with representatives of American gun lobby group National Rifle Association (NRA) to discuss ways to weaken gun control in Australia.
“I have one of the strongest gun law policies in the country,” Hanson told Knight, claiming that she “categorically” did not want to “water down” Australian gun laws.
.@PaulineHansonOz categorically denies she and One Nation want to water down Australia’s gun laws. @Deborah_Knight #9Today pic.twitter.com/xkS6bBkchF
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) March 28, 2019
When asked whether she would apologise to the family of Port Arthur massacre victims, Hanson said, “My comments were made at a dinner table, never made publicly.”