An LNP candidate in a marginal seat has apologised for a string of controversial social media posts in which he railed against Covid restrictions and blamed “feminists” for Donald Trump’s election loss.

Jeremy Neal reportedly officially launched his campaign for the far-north Queensland seat of Leichhardt last week with Donald Trump-inspired hats worn by LNP volunteers reading: “MAGA Make Albo Go Away”.

He is seeking to retain the seat for the LNP after the retirement of long-serving MP Warren Entsch.

Entsch held the seat throughout the Howard government era from 1996 to 2007. He won it again in 2010 and retained it until announcing his retirement last month.

Neal is a Cairns paramedic who faces a challenge from Labor candidate Matt Smith, a former NBL player for the Cairns Taipans. The LNP margin in Leichhardt is 3.4 per cent.

On Tuesday, The Courier-Mail revealed since-deleted social media posts from Neal.

“Feminists helped kick Trump out only to ruin ~ 19000000 women’s lives in Afghanistan under Biden,” he reportedly posted in August 2021.

In November 2020, he apparently labelled China a “grub of a country”, following the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman posting a fake picture showing an Australian soldier murdering an Afghan child.

Neal apologised for the posts on Tuesday, saying they were poorly worded.

“I share Peter Dutton’s concerns over President Trump’s tariffs, particularly the impact they will have on our local beef industry,” he told the newspaper.

“The posts in question, which have long been deleted, were poorly worded and I unreservedly apologise for them.

“The majority of these were posted in the midst of the Covid pandemic when I was working on the frontline as a paramedic, attending some extremely traumatic incidents in my community.

“These experiences had a profound impact on me at the time.”

The emergence of Neal’s comments come after the opposition disendorsed the Liberal candidate in the NSW south coast seat of Whitlam. Former paratrooper Ben Britton, who will run as an independent, was reportedly tapped on the shoulder over resurfaced comments from a podcast last July in which he expressed the view that women should not serve in combat roles.

In reaction on Tuesday, Britton unleashed on “faceless men” in the Liberal Party that he accused of making up lies against him, and also of plotting to roll leader Peter Dutton.

In January, Dutton described Britton as an “outstanding candidate”. He is yet to publicly comment on Neal.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, however, was only too happy to comment on the opposition’s candidate troubles.

“They’ve had to get rid of one candidate in Whitlam because – as one of the Liberals described to me – he was a cooker, and he has been replaced by someone else with extraordinary comments as well,” he said.

“Then you have the member for Leichhardt … has made the most extraordinary comments. [Labor has] have Matt Smith in Leichhardt, a distinguished Cairns Taipans champion, someone who will be a fantastic member for Leichhardt.

“I don’t know where they’re getting these far-right candidates from, they’re popping up everywhere. In Western Australia, in South Australia, in NSW and now in Queensland.”

Dutton’s dad on the mend

Meanwhile, Dutton has revealed he considered pulling out of Tuesday night’s leaders’ debate after his father was rushed to hospital after a heart attack.

Dutton confirmed on Wednesday his father was doing well, adding that he pushed ahead with the previous night’s election campaign showdown as his sisters provided updates from the hospital.

Dutton said he spoke with his father early on Wednesday and he was “good”.

“He’s 80 this year, he’s a great man, he’s stoic and he’s a tough old bugger so he’ll be fine,” he told Nova Sydney radio.

“I love him very much.”

Dutton started his day in Sydney after debating Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on US tariffs, the cost of living and energy costs at a people’s forum hosted by Sky News the previous night.

-with AAP