Christian philosopher Cornel West has hit out at Donald Trump in a Q&A panel that focused on freedom of speech and the "right to offend", labelling the US President a "gangster".

The panel, which also included Liberal senator Eric Abetz, WA Labor MP Anne Aly, free speech advocate Lindsay Shepherd and "people's panellist" Jeremy Bell, was asked whether Australia was in danger of being "infected" after Mr Trump was described as a symptom rather than the cause of the current situation in the US.

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