Canberra Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee apologised for her middle finger gesture towards the RiotACT's Ian Bushnell following a leadership debate with ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr on Wednesday.
But she said it was a moment of "sheer frustration" after a string of testy exchanges with the veteran journalist.
"I don't think I'm the first woman who's experienced constant interruptions, aggressive behaviour," she told ABC Radio on Thursday, two days out from the Territory election.
"I do have some history with this certain journalist."
Mr Bushnell declined to comment when contacted by AAP.
TV cameras caught Ms Lee flipping the bird at Mr Bushnell as she walked away from a press conference following the debate at a Canberra hotel.
Mr Bushnell had interrupted Ms Lee several times in a tense back-and-forth as he sought to draw an answer from her on her party's costings for its election promises
"Are you finished or not? I will answer the question in my own way, Ian," she fired back at the reporter.
Ms Lee said his interjections made her feel like she wasn't being listened to.
"The underlying, kind of, being over the mansplaining, being over the being interrupted a number of times, it just bubbled up," she said.
"But in saying that, I shouldn't have done it and I accept that it was poor behaviour.
"I've already had a number of people who reached out and believe that there is an underlying misogyny there, most notably from other journos who have told me very quietly that he hasn't treated Andrew Barr in the same way.Â
"So that's what they've observed. I don't know because I obviously haven't been to Andrew Barr's press conferences."
Mr Barr said he understood why Ms Lee would be frustrated after a scandal-plagued campaign, which included revelations Liberals candidate Darren Roberts had used a pseudonym on social media to make racist comments and the disendorsement of MLA Elizabeth Kikkert over donation disclosures and poor workplace behaviour.
"Over the course of a campaign you learn a lot about how individuals respond to immense pressure," Mr Barr told reporters.
"I can understand that frustration, but equally, that's part of the role in government. Every week, you have to make difficult decisions, give press conferences where you are likely to get questions that are uncomfortable, where occasionally if the journalist doesn't feel you're answering the question, they may have a follow up question, or two or three or four."
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles called the gesture a "pretty extraordinary contribution to the political discourse".
"I've had my share of frustrations in press conferences. Look, this is a difficult job. It's obviously important we seek to manage our emotions in that moment," he told ABC News Breakfast.
Ms Lee's frustrations come at the pointy end of a gruelling campaign, as she battles to overturn ACT Labor's 23-year supremacy in the Legislative Assembly.
If successful, she would be the first Liberal leader to win an election in the territory since Kate Carnell triumphed in the 1998 poll with the support of independents Michael Moore, Paul Osborne and Dave Rugendyke.
More than a quarter of voters had already submitted their ballots on Wednesday, down from the record levels recorded in 2020.
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