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

When I first met Stefanovic he was immediately likable.

How has his compass shifted so far that he platforms a man who stirs up terrorist attacks on mosques?

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!”

Hugh Riminton is national affairs editor at Channel 10