Chris Kenny has accused ABC Media Watch presenter Paul Barry of conducting “disgusting smear campaigns” by “insinuating” the Sky News presenter criticised US presidential candidate Kamala Harris because she is a woman of Indian descent.
Kenny used his show to attack Barry, who on Monday night criticised Sky News presenters for their negative coverage of Ms Harris after she became the Democratic nominee in the upcoming US election when President Joe Biden withdrew.
“He deliberately leaves open that appalling suggestion (that Kenny and other News Corp commentators are attacking Ms Harris because of her gender and ethnicity),” Kenny fumed on Tuesday night.
‘As the daughter of an Indian immigrant, Kamala Harris shares not only her gender but also a significant part of her ethnicity with my wife and therefore also with my two children. Barry should be ashamed of his smear campaigns.’
“But he won’t do that. He takes a salary from taxpayers, taxpayers like you and me, and he uses that to run an ideological program, trying to demonize those who disagree with him.
‘You thought it was your ABC, they think it’s their ABC, but Paul Barry, well, he goes off like it’s his ABC, because there’s no one in charge there.’
Kenny is married to Sydney lawyer Sunita Kenny and the couple have two sons.
On this week’s episode of Media Watch, Barry accused Kenny of following Republican candidate Donald Trump’s lead by portraying Ms. Harris as “the crazy, giggling Kamala,” ignoring her record as a prosecutor and attorney general in California.
Sky News presenter Chris Kenny has responded to what he called “disgusting smear campaigns” levelled against him by Media Watch presenter Paul Barry
Paul Barry speculated in Media Watch that Sky News commentators were taking their cues from Donald Trump
Kenny returned his serve and accused Barry of “deliberately misleading” by “selectively” using clips to create misleading impressions.
“Paul Barry is supposed to be an objective observer, but he uses the weekly programme solely to promote his green, left-wing political causes and criticise his perceived ideological enemies at News Corp and particularly here at Sky News,” Kenny said.
“He does it every week and to start with, in this latest piece of publicly funded fake news, he pretended that people like me were following the lead of Donald Trump or Fox News in criticizing Harris.
“But Barry has to know, because he and his team are watching us very closely. They know that many of us have been criticizing Harris for four years, ever since she was first elected by Joe Biden.”
Kenny showed old clips in which he criticized Ms. Harris, saying she was chosen on “identity grounds.” He backed up this claim by showing clips in which Biden said how inspiring Ms. Harris would be to “little black and brown girls.”
“Paul Barry appears to recognise Harris as an identity voter, but he condemns others who do the same,” Kenny said.
He showed a clip from Media Watch in which Barry said: ‘Before Joe Biden chose Harris as his running mate, he said he would choose a woman and that he would prefer a person of colour. Chris Kenny on Sky suggested that is her only qualification.
Kenny said that while Ms Harris was a good candidate on diversity, Barry failed to mention the many criticisms he had levelled at her behaviour and performance as vice-chair.
The Sky News presenter accused Barry and the ABC of “censoring” Harris’ failures and awkward, inappropriate giggling to cover up her lack of substance.
“The ABC has censored all of these (embarrassing incidents) over the years, just as they didn’t show their viewers the vice president’s idiotic speeches,” he said.
Kenny and Barry were locked in a war of words over Sky News’ portrayal of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris
Kenny alleged that the ABC arranged for Ms Harris’ protection and ‘acted as a co-driver for her’.
“We all know how dishonest the left wing media is because they all tried to hide the weakness of Joe Biden,” Kenny said.
“Either they didn’t show you his brain abnormalities and embarrassing episodes, or they deliberately censored them, or they made excuses for them.”
‘Just now while they sought protection for President Joe Biden is now running protection for Kamala Harris.