Dan Andrews’s gushing post about wife Cath divides Australians: Premier’s tribute to his ‘number one’ leaves his fans swooning and critics demanding he ‘spare us’ on first day of election campaign
- Victorian election campaign kicked off on Wednesday morning
- Premier Dan Andrews posts about his wife on election trail with him
- Campaign has already been subject to misinformation spread on social media
Dan Andrews has launched his bid for a third term with a gushing post about his wife Cath that has divided opinion, as day one of the Victorian election was hit by bizarre false claims spread on social media.
The Victorian Premier posted a photo of his wife of 24 years gazing adoringly at him to Twitter, while she also published a photo of them together on ‘the big red [campaign] bus’.
‘Campaign day one – with my number one,’ Mr Andrews wrote in his post.
The campaign begins with predictions Victorians will once again favour his Labor team over opposition leader Matthew Guy’s Coalition line-up at the November 26 poll.
Dan Andrews has launched his bid for a third term with a gushing post about his wife Cath that has divided opinion
Dan and Catherine Andrews have been married for 24 years. The Victorian premier started the 2022 election campaign with his wife beside him
The Andrews’ gushing campaign launch photos brought out both the haters and the fans.
‘Great to have your best asset on the campaign trail with you,’ said one.
‘Good luck to both of you!’ responded a woman, while another said ‘Great pic Cath!’.
But the posts drew plenty of cynical and negative responses.
‘Please spare us,’ said one person with an anti-vax handle.
‘Your number 1 will be the first one to commiserate you at your loss,’ said another.
‘On world record pace for the most meaningless, ‘look at me’ tweets,’ another commented.
Cath Andrews also published a photo of herself with her husband together on the first day of the campaign trail
Another nasty reaction claimed Andrews himself and his social media were ‘so blatantly contrived and fake’.
Andrews wasn’t alone in trying to leverage his marriage for votes though.
On Monday, Mr Guy posted a photo of himself out for dinner with his wife Renae.
With the photo Mr Guy promised ‘If elected, my government will … scrap Daniel Andrews’ unfair charities tax, the 43rd new or increased tax under the Andrews Labor Government.’
Andrews wasn’t alone in trying to leverage his marriage for votes though. On Monday, Liberal leader Matthew Guy posted a photo of himself out for dinner with his wife Renae
The authority overseeing the election posted an alert that ‘completely false’ claims were being spread about vote-counting
While the Andrews were posting coordinated husband-and-wife snaps, the authority overseeing the election posted an alert that ‘completely false’ claims were being spread about vote-counting.
‘We are aware of a post circulating online that suggests we have partnered with the World Economic Forum (WEF) to oversee the counting of votes,’ the Victorian Electoral Commission posted across various platforms.
‘This is completely false. We have not partnered with the WEF or any other organisation to count votes for the State election.’
When commenters asked to see the posts spreading the false information, the VEC declined, saying doing so could ‘amplify the misinformation’.
It also asked others not to share it.
The VEC also sought to remind the public that because ‘anyone can share their views on social media … that includes people or groups trying to spread false information’.
It also posted a link to an ‘explainer on how to sort fact from fiction’.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk