Senate sparring partners Pauline Hanson and Derryn Hinch have exchanged heated words in the hallways of Parliament House over the revelations about United States presidential candidate Donald Trump's attitudes to women.
Their spat, caught on camera, followed an interview with Seven's Sunrise program in which the two were asked whether the Republican contender should quit the race for the White House following the airing of 2005 comments in which he bragged about groping women.
The argument between two of the most outspoken crossbench senators came as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, in rare commentary on the eyebrow-raising US election campaign, labelled Mr Trump's remarks "loathsome".
In the Monday morning interview, Senator Hinch said Mr Trump's behaviour was despicable and he should not have been a nominee in the first place but predicted he wouldn't quit the race.
The One Nation leader offered a more forgiving appraisal, saying she did not support the "vulgar" comments but that there were serious issues facing the US and the American people would make their judgment.
"It was said, not on camera, it was said behind the scenes and was a tape recording. Now, let's be honest about it, there are a lot of men out there that say horrific things, probably up to the same standard," Senator Hanson said.
She also argued that women also say vulgar things before being drowned out by an outraged Senator Hinch, who exclaimed: "No, Pauline!"
"A normal man in a private conversation would not talk about this. A normal man, Pauline, would never consider invading a woman's space so much that he would ... That is sexual assault!" he said.
As the pair left the studio and walked on to their next Parliament House engagements, Senator Hinch pursued Senator Hanson over her "disgraceful" attitude.
"That you, as a woman, could even make any justification for what he has said and what he has done is just ... " he said.
"Well, I didn't condone what he said," she responded.
"No, you said the people of America will decide. If you are even slightly right, then God help the country and God help the world. The man is a sexual predator and he is a disgrace," the former broadcaster said, before getting in a lift.
Mr Turnbull, who has previously refrained from public criticism of the Republican candidate and cautioned Opposition Leader Bill Shorten for making strong comments, did not hesitate this time.
"They are loathsome and they deserve the absolutely universal condemnation that they've received," he said in a press conference.
Libertarian senator David Leyonhjelm simultaneously denounced Mr Trump's comments but offered sympathy and rejected "the fact that he's a misogynist" as a measure of his fitness to be president.
"Well, he is 70 years old and saying stuff - I mean, what he said was pretty distasteful, quite frankly - but saying stuff like that used to be a lot more common than it is these days," he said.
"He is a man of his times, perhaps. So perhaps you could cut him a little bit of slack. A lot of nasty things are said about men, too, incidentally."
