Chris Kenny has accused ABC Media Watch presenter Paul Barry of using “disgusting smears” by “insinuating” the Sky News presenter has criticised US presidential candidate Kamala Harris because she is a woman of Indian descent.
Kenny used his show to fire back at Barry, who took aim at Sky News presenters on Monday night for their negative coverage of Harris after she took over as the Democratic candidate for the upcoming US election when President Joe Biden stepped aside.
“He deliberately leaves out that hateful 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 not only shares gender but a significant part of her ethnic heritage with my wife and therefore my two children, so Barry should be ashamed of his smears.”
‘But he won’t be, he takes a salary from taxpayers, taxpayers like you and me, and uses it to run an ideological program, which attempts to demonize those who disagree with him.
‘You thought it was your ABC, they think it’s their ABC, but Paul Barry, well, he acts like it’s his ABC, because there’s nobody in charge there.’
Kenny is married to Sydney lawyer Sunita Kenny and the couple have two children.
On this week’s episode of Media Watch, Barry accused Kenny of following Republican candidate Donald Trump’s lead by painting Harris as “crazy, giggly Kamala,” ignoring her record as a prosecutor and attorney general in California.
Sky News presenter Chris Kenny has responded to what he called “disgusting smears” made against him by Media Watch presenter Paul Barry.
On Media Watch, Paul Barry speculated that Sky News commentators were taking their cues from Donald Trump.
Kenny again accused Barry of being “deliberately misleading” by using clips “selectively” to create misleading impressions.
“Paul Barry is supposed to be an objective observer, but he simply uses the weekly programme to promote his green-left political causes and criticise his perceived ideological enemies at News Corp and especially here at Sky News,” Kenny said.
‘He does this every week, and for starters, in this latest publicly funded fake story, he pretended that people like me were following the lead of Donald Trump or Fox News to criticize Harris.
‘In fact, Barry must know, because he and his team are watching us closely, and he must know that many of us have been criticizing Harris for four years since she was first chosen by Joe Biden.’
Kenny played old clips of him criticizing Harris and saying she was chosen for “identity reasons” and backed up this claim by showing clips of Biden saying how inspiring Harris would be to “black and brown girls.”
“Paul Barry seems to acknowledge Harris as an identity choice, but says others do the same,” Kenny said.
He played a clip from Media Watch where Barry said: “Before choosing Harris to be his running mate, Joe Biden said he would choose a woman and that he would prefer a person of colour, leading Chris Kenny on Sky to imply that that is her only qualification.”
Kenny said that while he maintained Harris was a choice for diversity, what Barry failed to mention were the numerous criticisms he had made of her behavior and performance as vice president.
The Sky News presenter accused Barry and the ABC of “censoring” the awkward and inappropriate gaffes and laughs Harris used to disguise her lack of substance.
“ABC has censored all of these (embarrassing incidents) over the years, just as it has not shown its viewers the vice president’s stupid speeches,” he said.
Kenny and Barry had a war of words over the way Sky News portrayed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Kenny claimed the ABC was protecting Ms Harris and “travelling as a chaperone for her”.
“We all know how dishonest these leftist media outlets are because they tried to cover up Joe Biden’s weakness,” Kenny said.
“Either they did not show his brain failures and embarrassing episodes, or they deliberately censored them or excused them.”
‘Fair while they ran for protection President Joe Biden is now campaigning protection for Kamala Harris.
