New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern and her rival David Seymour have set aside their political differences and signed a copy of the Hansard page that officially registered the prime minister’s “offensive pr***” remark for the latter in parliament.
The two will use the signed copy of the official record that carries the remark to raise money for a prostate cancer charity.
Ms Ardern was put in a spot after a hot microphone caught the comment during question time in parliament on Tuesday. A day later, Mr Seymour was mocked in parliament.
The ACT New Zealand leader, however, said the latest move was a “very Kiwi resolution to what might be seen as a nasty incident”.
“In the spirit of Christmas, we are going to raise money for the Prostate Cancer Foundation, raising money for pr***s everywhere,” Mr Seymour said.
The two leaders signed the “one of a kind” transcript from the parliamentary proceedings.
Mr Seymour said he and Ms Ardern “wanted to be able to say that ‘we’re helping pr***s everywhere’ and the prostate is about as close as we could get”, he told Newshub.
The two came up with the idea at the parliament’s annual press gallery Christmas function, the report added. Mr Seymour said he and Ms Ardern “managed to have a laugh about hatching a plan to raise some money for a good cause”.
He also picked up a frame for the Hansard page from the Briscoes store on Thursday morning, which will be signed later today.
Ms Ardern made the comment when the leader of the opposition party was bombarding her with questions, including asking for an “example of her making a mistake, apologising for it properly, and fixing it”.
She was forced to later apologise after she made the comment during question time in parliament.
She said she stood by the work her government had done over the past term.
Ms Ardern’s office said she had apologised to Mr Seymour for the comment.
“I’m absolutely shocked and astonished at her use of language,” Mr Seymour told the Associated Press.
“It’s very out of character for Jacinda, and I’ve personally known her for 11 years.”
Ms Ardern is not the only world leader who has been caught by a “hot” microphone saying something embarrassing. In January, Joe Biden called Fox News reporter Peter Doocy “a stupid son of a b****” when he asked the president a question about inflation.
