Neil Mitchell urges Holmes à Court to apologise to Jewish community for ‘foolish’ tweet

Neil Mitchell is calling on teal independent backer Simon Holmes à Court to apologise for any hurt he caused to the Jewish community by referring to former prime minister John Howard as the “angel of death”.

Mr Holmes à Court made the reference in a tweet about former Mr Howard campaigning with Josh Frydenberg in Kooyong this week.

On Wednesday, Neil Mitchell criticised the climate change activist using the moniker “angel of death”, which is a nickname given to notorious Nazi doctor Josef Mengele.

The 3AW Mornings host invited Mr Holmes à Court onto his program to explain his tweet, but he declined the invitation.

“He’s [Holmes à Court] described my comments as ‘vile and defamatory’. He wants a retraction, he wants an apology — he gets neither,” Neil Mitchell said.

“But he is entitled to an explanation. It’s a pity he’s unwilling to do that personally now.

“He said he was referring to a published article that described John Howard as the Liberal ‘angel of death’ because he only came out to campaign when a seat was in danger.

“That’s his explanation. He wasn’t referring to Josef Mengele.

“And I take that explanation as genuine, but it was still a very foolish thing to say and it has caused significant hurt, I believe, within the Jewish community.

“Mr Holmes à Court may not have been referring to Mengele, as he says, but he should have been aware of the man and his well-known, well-published nickname — the angel of death.

“What he did to make a political point may not have intended the hurt it caused, but he wears it regardless. He should stop justifying himself and at least apologise for that. It would be the decent thing to do.

“His teal candidates talk about decency and integrity. He’s got a chance here to set a standard — apologise for any hurt caused.”

Press PLAY below to hear Neil Mitchell’s thoughts in full