Following her first interview with new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Leigh Sales has hit back at social and mainstream media with the pizzazz of comedians Amy Poehler and Amy Schumer.
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The 7.30 presenter has drawn up a prepared multiple choice report card for commentators weighing in on her interviewing style.
"Leigh Sales went too hard/too soft in her interview last night and she is a left-wing stooge/right-wing fascist. Her outfit was gross/awesome/reminiscent of a bag lady. Bring back Kerry O'Brien/Chris Uhlmann/the guy who plays the piano with the puppet," she posted on Twitter on Tuesday as Australia continued to dissect her 22-minute interview with Turnbull on Monday night.
Sales' sassy response was reminiscent of Poehler and Schumer's blistering analysis of professional women in the public eye at this year's Emmys.
Opinion was divided about Turnbull's 7.30 debut as Prime Minister with many claiming Sales took to him with a blunt butterknife instead of her usual sharp razor to which former PM Tony Abbott and former Treasurer Joe Hockey were accustomed.
Sales, and her ABC colleague Sarah Ferguson, are renowned for their no-nonsense interviewing styles, often interrupting subjects to refocus the conversation. However on Monday, Sales apologised for cutting him off during one of his rambling soliloquies.
Sales: "I'm sorry I'm laughing, but you're not at the dispatch box and you're not at the bar, so I've got to squeeze in one more question before we run out of time."
Mr Turnbull: "One more question. Sorry, sorry, sorry."
Sales: "I'm sorry. I'm sorry to be rude like that too."
Mr Turnbull: "You're not being rude at all. It's quite understandable."
Sales: "The - no, no, I did cut you directly off."
Mr Turnbull: "That's fine."
Earlier this year Mr Turnbull suggested Sales and other female presenters including Lateline's Emma Alberici should adopt a "more forensic" approach when grilling politicians.
"He's free to have an opinion on whether he thought the interview was aggressive, but it won't change the way I do interviews," Sales told Fairfax Media at the time.
While she may not have taken his advice on board, she didn't follow in the footsteps of the former 7.30 host, the late Richard Carleton, whose first interview with newly appointed Opposition Leader Bob Hawke in March 1983 started with a fiery exchange about his rise as ALP leader.
"May I ask you whether you feel a little embarrassed tonight at the blood that's on your hands?" Carleton asked Mr Hawke after he replaced Bill Hayden as Opposition Leader.
"You're not improving are you? I thought you'd make a better start to the year than that. It's a ridiculous question, you know it's ridiculous. I have no blood on my hands," Mr Hawke fired back.
"Now Mr Carleton, you can sit there with your silly quizzical face, you've got a reputation right around this country, yeah it's looking better still, you've got a reputation for your impertinence, your refusal to accept people at their face value to try and ridicule the integrity of people."
