{"id":755486,"date":"2026-06-23T17:30:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T17:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/755486\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T17:30:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T17:30:17","slug":"tommy-robinson-and-karl-stefanovic-podcast-interview-covers-immigration-islam-and-support-for-pauline-hanson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/755486\/","title":{"rendered":"Tommy Robinson and Karl Stefanovic: Podcast interview covers immigration, Islam and support for Pauline Hanson"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Television presenter Karl Stefanovic has sparked fresh controversy by hosting British far-right anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson in a lengthy podcast interview, during which the pair discuss immigration, Islam and Australian politics, including One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.<\/p>\n

The Nine Network star, who has increasingly cast himself as a culture warrior, told Robinson he admired his \u201ctenacity\u201d and \u201ccourage\u201d in \u201ctrying to stand up for what you believe is right\u201d in an interview lasting almost an hour on Stefanovic\u2019s self-titled YouTube program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"KarlKarl Stefanovic hosts far-right UK activist Tommy Robinson on his podcast.@TheKarlStefanovicShow<\/p>\n

The conversation, released on Tuesday afternoon, marked the highest-profile Australian media appearance for Robinson (whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon), a divisive figure who has built a large online following campaigning against Islam and immigration while repeatedly attracting condemnation for inflammatory rhetoric and a long history of legal troubles.<\/p>\n

Stefanovic, who is currently in the UK, described Robinson as \u201cone of Britain\u2019s most controversial public figures\u201d who had been at the centre of debates around immigration, grooming gangs, free speech and national identity.<\/p>\n

A former member of the fascist British National Party, Robinson co-founded the English Defence League, an anti-Islam movement that organised street demonstrations across Britain.<\/p>\n

He has convictions for assault, mortgage fraud, using a false passport and contempt of court, when he was jailed in October 2024 after he ignored a court order not to repeat lies about a Syrian refugee, who had successfully sued him for libel.<\/p>\n

\"Far-rightFar-right agitator Stephen Yaxley-Lennon \u2013 known by his pseudonym Tommy Robinson \u2013 speaks during the Unite the Kingdom rally on May 16. AP Photo\/Kirsty Wigglesworth<\/p>\n

Robinson has again attracted attention in recent weeks following unrest in Northern Ireland, where he shared graphic footage online after a stabbing attack in Belfast<\/a> allegedly carried out by a Sudanese-born suspect and subsequently promoted demonstrations that later descended into violence, including attacks on migrants and the burning of homes.<\/p>\n

He has been condemned by several UK prime ministers, including Conservative Boris Johnson, who labelled him a \u201cfar-right thug\u201d who did \u201cnot represent the values of this country\u201d.<\/p>\n

Right-wing populist leader Nigel Farage has repeatedly said Robinson was not welcome in his Reform UK party and publicly clashed with trillionaire owner of X, Elon Musk, over the activist.<\/p>\n

During the interview, Robinson praised Hanson, saying he respected the Queensland senator for supporting him when few others would.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love her, Pauline,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cShe\u2019s proved herself. I\u2019ve watched her for years. She spoke up for me. She\u2019s one of the only people who spoke up for me from that side of the world and I respect her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hanson eight years ago recorded a video throwing her support behind Robinson, describing him as a \u201ccivilian journalist\u201d and \u201ca man standing up for what he truly believes in\u201d.<\/p>\n

Robinson, 43, compared Hanson\u2019s political experiences to his own, arguing she had endured years of criticism and public condemnation.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s been condemned, attacked, battered, every name under the sun,\u201d he said. \u201cHere she is. She\u2019s carried on against all of that backlash, all of that whirlwind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"<\/a><\/p>\n

He said Hanson had shown leadership by refusing to retreat from controversial positions and claimed Australia\u2019s major parties were increasingly adopting policies she had championed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I can say is she hasn\u2019t backed down and that\u2019s what a leader should be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Robinson also argued that many Australians shared his concerns about immigration and Islam but were reluctant to express them publicly because of fears about professional and social repercussions. He claimed radical Islamist groups were exploiting Australia\u2019s free speech laws to promote extremism and terrorism.<\/p>\n

Stefanovic noted during the interview that authorities \u201cwant to eliminate your voice\u201d and told Robinson: \u201cI can\u2019t believe you\u2019re alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nine declined to comment on the podcast, which Stefanovic operates independently of the network.<\/p>\n

Stefanovic remains one of Australia\u2019s highest-profile television personalities, reportedly earning $2.8 million co-hosting Today and fronting major news events for the broadcaster, which also owns this masthead.<\/p>\n

There has been increased speculation over his future with the network, with reports that he is making exit plans. Nine approved his podcast launch late last year.<\/p>\n

Robinson has described Muslims as \u201cfilthy scumbags\u201d, called for people to \u201cmake war\u201d on Islam, and was previously banned from Facebook after posts encouraging violence against followers of the Koran.<\/p>\n

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"RobRob Harris<\/a> is the national correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age based in Canberra. He is a former Europe correspondent.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":755487,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-755486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=755486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/755487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=755486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=755486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=755486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}