REPORTER Laura Turner and cameraman Daniel McPherson were shocked – but not surprised – by the violent uprising at US Capitol building in Washington DC last week.
The pair covered the 2016 presidential election campaign and the first half of Donald Trump’s controversy-laden presidency as US correspondents for 9 News.
They were based in Hollywood but spent most of their time on the road, including in “Trump heartland” in Middle America, and were the only Australian TV crew at the Trump election-night after-party in New York when, against all odds, he beat Democrat rival Hillary Clinton.
The Aussie duo copped plenty of abuse as “fake news” at Trump’s rallies and the 2016 Republican Convention – and, according to Mr McPherson, “the worst of America was on show those nights”.
“We were sick of being called ‘fake news’. People would come and abuse you at the rallies,” the Mildura-raised chief cameraman for Melbourne’s 9 News said.
“Just by having a camera on your shoulder, they’d assume you were CNN and you were the enemy.
“There were times it was actually quite scary when you had these big crowds having a crack at you after Trump called us ‘fake news’.”
He said last week’s deadly riots at the Capitol was “no surprise”.
“Watching it all happen closely over the past four years, it was building up to that,” he said.
“(Barack) Obama has said it best over the Trump journey: words matter.
“When someone – especially a president – says to their followers to ‘fight, fight, fight’ then people will rock up and do it.”
Ms Turner said she went to the US in 2015 with “a more wholesome view of it”.
“But when you go to middle America and interview people in the rust belt, I really learnt why Trump did win,” the mother of two-year-old twin girls said.
“There was so much anger, division and frustration.
“I left America (in 2017) thinking it was far more divided than I could have imagined and now we’ve seen how true that is.
“Sadly, I think we’re going to see more of these outbursts of anger and demonstrations.”
