‘Inside Lidia Thorpe’s bizarre relationship with her Trump supporter dad

The day before Lidia Thorpe, the Greens defector, sensationally laid down in front of a float at Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, she called her Trump-supporting father to let him know she had a dream about him. had.

A month after that apparently pleasant conversation, Roy Illingworth went on Thursday on Conservative Sky News presenter Andrew Bolt’s show and launched a full-frontal assault on his daughter.

At the same time, in scenes reminiscent of the behavior of Thomas Markle – who publicly slapped his daughter Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex – he also spoke somewhat affectionately about Thorpe, his once “really spoiled” little girl, who is now constantly making headlines. cites for her outrageous antics and extreme views.

The unexpected broadcast of his family’s dirty laundry by Mr Illingworth came after Thorpe was filmed at 3am on Sunday letting loose on a group of men outside Maxine’s Gentleman’s Club in Melbourne. She told them they were little penises and accused them of stealing her land. Thorpe later claimed she was wooed.

In March, she was heavily criticized after plying in front of a Twenty10 truck, bringing the Mardi Gras parade to a temporary halt, and she caused chaos when she recently denounced a transgender critic outside Parliament House.

During his TV interview, Mr Illingworth – who often shares social media posts by Conservative commentators and politicians – made it clear that he disagreed with Thorpe’s actions, adding that he had been inundated with calls from friends saying they were ‘pitying have with me’. .

But in the same breath, the father seemed to gush about his daughter’s unending perseverance and dedication to her “Blak Sovereign” movement – describing her as a “strong woman” who doesn’t take nonsense and “sees it for what it is.”

Mr Illingworth said their relationship was strained because she had been ‘cruel’ to him in the past.

He then accused her of being “racist towards white people” – in a quote that made headlines.

The basis for his claim was that he was “disappointed” by “the way she’s been going about things lately” and that she insisted she didn’t acknowledge her English heritage, or her half-siblings who are non-Indigenous.

Mr. Illingworth is of English and Irish descent. Thorpe’s mother is Aboriginal.

He said Thorpe “was never like that” when she was younger and suggested that the power she has as a senator “has gone to her head.”

Speaking of her as a child, Mr Illingworth said: ‘She was really spoiled … she got everything she wanted and she knows it.

“She’s even more privileged now with the position she’s in.”

He also said ‘she is still my daughter and I still love her’.

Thorpe’s fans were quick to compare the broadcast to an interview Meghan Markle’s father, Thomas, did with Good Morning Britain in 2021.

He then famously slammed his daughter, the Duchess of Sussex, claiming she “haunted her whole family” since she met Prince Harry in 2016.

One Twitter user said, “Sky News is giving Lidia Thorpe the ‘Meghan Markle’ treatment.”

Another wrote, “It gives me Thomas Markle.”

A third added: ‘[Thorpe] speaks of her mother and grandmother as strong women. Maybe show them. The Thomas Markle-Roy Thorpes can be splinter stories for their trees.”

Thorpe and the Duchess of Sussex are both high profile women from different backgrounds – Markle’s mother is African American and Thorpe’s mother is Aboriginal. They both have a white father who gave TV interviews and assaulted their daughters.

Daily Mail Australia suggests nothing else by this comparison.

A friend of Thorpe’s, who also made the Markle comparison, slammed Mr Illingworth on Twitter, describing the interview as “low” and “grubby”.

He pointed to the fact that Mr Illingworth’s social media profile picture is of Donald Trump and that he follows Conservative politicians Pauline Hanson and Jacinta Price.

The father is a prolific Facebook user who shares several posts a day, often in the form of climate change commentary memes, sexual jokes or posts by right-wing politicians.

His political views seem at odds with those of Thorpe, who was a senator from the Greens until she stepped down in February over the party’s support of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, which she opposes.

Thorpe previously said she would only support The Voice if it guaranteed indigenous sovereignty.

At an Invasion Day rally in Melbourne this year, Thorpe declared war on European colonialism in a fiery speech: “This is a war. They’re still killing us. They still kill our babies. What are we celebrating in our country?’

Following Thorpe’s rampage outside the strip club in Melbourne last week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese suggested she “get help.” The senator called his comments “racist.”

She insisted racial harassment had caused her outburst and stressed that no injuries were reported during the confrontation.

“The story should be about the racists brutally harassing a senator. The story is that I can’t go out without being harassed by racists.

“Saying I need ‘mental help’ is a continuation of the old racist and misogynistic narrative that was used to discredit and silence outspoken and strong women, especially Blak women,” she said.

“I am disappointed by the opportunism of politicians in Canberra – including the Prime Minister – who are using this to bring me down.”

Mr Illingworth agreed that his daughter was not mentally ill. “There’s nothing wrong with her,” he said.

He put it best when he talked about their conversation on the phone after Thorpe’s Mardi Gras stunt.

“She called me to say I was in her dream or something and we talk for a while, and the next day she’s in front of a float,” he said, smiling.

“You never know what she’s up to.”