A Trump-loving, conspiracy-peddling Australian senator has quietly deleted a video from social media after he was threatened with punishment for posting a misleading video.

Senator Ralph Babet posted a misleading video that showed him talking in Senate estimates, while an official from the Australian Bureau of Statistics appeared dumbfounded at his questions, during the hearing into excess mortality.

Babet selectively edited the video, removing the response from the ABS official who explained how he had misinterpreted and misrepresented the data on life expectancy.

“Most excess mortality is in people over 65, so when we have a look at those excess mortality figures by age, that we’ve put in our submission, the numbers of deaths are really small and there would be some natural variation,” the official said.

“When we look at our data set, as I mentioned, we are still seeing Covid-19 in younger age groups, they are a much smaller number.”

In a letter, Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne, the chair of the Standing Committee on Community Affairs, told Babet the video did not meet the requirements for broadcasting committee proceedings to “be fair and accurate”.

“The committee draws to your attention that a court may hold that the publication of the material does not amount to a fair and accurate report of proceedings under the law of qualified privilege. This means that the publication is unlikely to receive protection from defamation action,” Allman-Payne said.

“In addition, the publication may amount to a misleading report of committee’s proceedings which may be investigated as a possible contempt.”

Babet quietly removed the video from his social media pages, but watchers still managed to save the offending clip.

Clive’s army

Babet is the only elected official in the United Australia Party, following Clive Palmer’s $123 million election campaign in 2022.

Clive Palmer’s exorbitant election spending netted him the political prowess of Ralph Babet. Photo: AAP

He and the UAP received over 150,000 votes, about 4 per cent of votes in the state, to become the final senator for Victoria.

Babet isn’t up for re-election until 2028 and has used his time in parliament to amplify and spread several debunked conspiracy theories surrounding Covid and vaccinations, and to raucously support former US president Donald Trump.

Babet has falsely claimed that children are more likely to die from mRNA vaccines than Covid, denied the existence of climate change and has spread claims that the Australian Electoral Commission has misled voters to influence elections.

He also pleaded guilty to unlawful assault in 2018, resulting in the magistrate dismissing the charge after Babet complied with an undertaking from the court.

Across his social media pages, Babet continues to promote right-wing, American-centric content that includes interviews with the Tate brothers, the Libs of TikTok page (that has been accused of inciting violence) and blamed the media for the failed assassination of Trump’s life earlier this year.

Babet will face serious challenges in getting re-elected unless Palmer spends a similar amount when his six-year term in the Senate is up, according to political experts.