I have always wished the best for Karl Stefanovic. But if he’s selling racists, thugs and conspiracy theorists, I hope he fails

‘The temptation is to see [Karl Stefanovic’s] love-in with [Tommy] Robinson as based on a new commonality: they both see ordinary punters as a group to exploit,’ writes Hugh Riminton Photograph: The Karl Stefanovic show/Youtube

I knew Karl before he was famous. He came into the Nine Sydney newsroom as a young man who’d paid his dues: Rockhampton, Auckland, Brisbane. The best kind of instant success – built on grind.

He was immediately likable. A larrikin; funny but hard-working and serious about his craft. One of the striking things about his sudden shift into martyred hero of the far right is the way people feel it’s a stage act. Almost as if the donkey costume will fall off any minute and there will be Karl, grinning, smirking – “gotcha there!”