Tuesday, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was caught on a hot mic using an expletive at a rival politician, a rare slip-up for a leader famed for her debating prowess and measured responses.
In 2023, after five years as prime minister, Ardern will confront a difficult election campaign. Her liberal Labour Party was reelected in a historic landslide two years ago, but recent surveys have placed her party below its conservative opponents.
The remark was made after lawmaker David Seymour, leader of the libertarian ACT party, questioned Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with questions about her government’s performance for approximately seven minutes during Parliament’s Question Time, a forum for heated debate between opposing parties.
After sitting down, Ardern said something to her deputy Grant Robertson that sounded like, “He’s such an arrogant p———” As House Speaker Adrian Rurawhe speaks, her comments are barely audible on Parliament TV, but are picked up in the background by her desk microphone.
According to Ardern’s office, she apologized to Seymour for the remark. When approached for clarification by The Associated Press, Ardern’s office did not contradict the remark. Seymour stated in an interview with the AP that she had used these terms.
Ardern has issued an apology to David Seymour for her impolite remarks.
Seymour stated, “I am genuinely stunned and amazed by her use of language.” I’ve known Jacinda for eleven years, and this behavior is completely out of character.
It was especially ironic, he continued, because his question to the prime minister had been if she had ever confessed and then rectified a leadership error. Seymour stated, “She was unable to provide a single instance in which she confessed her error and apologized.”
According to Seymour, Ardern said in her text message that she “apologized, she shouldn’t have made the comments, and that, as her mother advised, if you don’t have anything pleasant to say, don’t say anything at all.”
Seymour, who stated that he much respected some of Ardern’s political abilities, stated that he had written Ardern a letter thanking her for the apology and wishing her a very Merry Christmas.
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