When you lean to the right politically, you get labelled everything from crazy to controversial. If your haters are feeling particularly vicious, they may even slap you with that most damning of Gen-Z insults: grifter.
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Cracks in Karls Conservative Act Exposed!
When you lean to the right politically, you get labelled everything from crazy to controversial. If your haters are feeling particularly vicious, they may even ...
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Trust me, I know. I'm a conservative - it's not a secret. But despite all the vitriol that's thrown at me on social media, there's one thing no one has ever called me.
A hypocrite.
That's because, for all my faults, I know who I am, and I own it. Love me or loathe me, what you see is what you get.
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Now, before anyone calls in the high-priced lawyers, let me be crystal clear: I'm not calling a hypocrite. What I am saying - and I'm not alone on the right in thinking it - is this: Karl has a credibility problem in the political arena he now seems determined to stride into, loudly and aggressively.
In case you've been living under a rock, you'll know that the soon-to-be-former host of Channel Nine's Today show is getting ahead of his exit by rebranding as a Joe Rogan-style, no-holds-barred podcast provocateur.
'I'm not calling Karl Stefanovic a hypocrite. What I am saying is this: he has a credibility problem in the political arena he now seems determined to stride into,' writes Amanda Goff. (Karl is pictured with his wife Jasmine Stefanovic)
He fronts The Karl Stefanovic Show - his supposedly 'hard-hitting' podcast for the 'people of Australia' - while also plugging Harvey Norman sofas on Channel Nine breakfast television
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He fronts The Karl Stefanovic Show: his supposedly 'hard-hitting' podcast for the 'people of Australia'.
He's positioning himself as a blunt, right-leaning, anti-establishment voice for those quiet Australians who, in reality, are not all that quiet. A man of the people.
With guests like One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, polarising conservative influencer Big Chocky, and jab-dodging, rat-tailed chef Pete Evans, Karl's podcast is designed from the ground up to court controversy, while at the same time putting up its hands and declaring: 'I'm just asking questions!'
In a headline-grabbing moment, he offered Paleo Pete a 'sorry, mate' for previously calling him a 'whack job' over his Covid-era views.
Before the blue-haired brigade tries to paint me as a woke leftie throwing a tantrum because Karl has finally seen the light... rest assured, I'm anything but.
While I was taught never to discuss money or politics in public, I'll admit - I've always leaned conservative. I probably always will. That's why Karl has set off alarm bells in my head. And among my right-minded friends, I'm not the only one.
When 'Karlos' starts slamming the mainstream media as 'beige' and 'too scared' to run hard-hitting interviews - like his own, apparently - I have to call out the obvious:
Karl, you're still the host of the Today show. You are mainstream media. And I very much doubt you've ever really been censored by your paymasters at Nine. In fact, I reckon you're on an extremely long leash.
Amanda Goff says Karl's new podcast feels 'insincere' and 'inauthentic'
Daily Mail columnist Amanda Goff (pictured) isn't buying Karl Stefanovic positioning himself as a blunt, right-leaning, anti-establishment voice for mainstream Australia
Just recently, he gave a quote to Media Watch about how brain surgeon Charlie Teo is a 'great f***ing Australian' and his critics should 'leave him the f*** alone'.
I'm no Teo hater, but I cringed. Karl sounded like a 10-year-old who has just learned a new swear word and tried it out when his mum wasn't listening.
Here's the thing: Karl wasn't exactly leading the conservative resistance over the past decade.
He backed same-sex marriage (no judgement, so did I, and many conservatives); he dismissed concerns about immigration, condemning Peter Dutton's refugee comments as 'un-Australian'; and he aggressively pushed the government's Covid messaging - which he now admits was wrong.
Karl did all this from the comfort of a multimillion-dollar Mosman mansion while cashing in a hefty 'MSM' pay cheque every single month.
Look, everyone is entitled to their views, and is entitled to change them. But this is a question of authenticity: Karl's about-turn is extremely sudden and, to an outsider, appears to be commercially driven and opportunistic.
A reasonable person might ask: are these really his views? Or is he testing the waters, seeing what the algorithm rewards, and pitching himself accordingly?
Call me a sceptic - but this whole 'man of the people' podcast act isn't landing with me. They're calling him 'Joe Bogan' - and, truth be told, it's not entirely off the mark.
This week, I spoke with the comedian and radio presenter Henry Bretz, whose brilliant impersonations of the 'new Karl' are going viral. He told me that he sees through Karl's 'blatant' reinvention too.
'It's fun to take the piss,' he added.
Even funnier, Karl followed Henry on Instagram after one of his early skits, then unfollowed just as quickly when his jokes cut a little too close to the bone.
Oh, Karl. All those years in TV and you're still thin-skinned?
I'm not doubting that you've shifted right, Karl, and I'm sure your views are your own. But even Pavarotti could see that turning Internet Conservatism into your entire podcast persona looks less like a revelation and more like a commercial move.
Or maybe I'm wrong and marrying a Queenslander really has changed you beyond recognition (sorry, Jasmine, I couldn't resist!)
Here's the blunt truth: no matter how many Reels you fire into the void packed with anti‑woke buzzwords, no matter how often you apologise to vaccine critics, one fact doesn't change: you don't get to spend two decades cashing cheques from the establishment and then suddenly rage against it the moment your contract winds down.
I'm just not buying it, 'mate'.
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