New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been caught calling the leader of an opposition party an “arrogant pr**k" and has been forced to apologise.
The comment was picked up by her hot microphone - this is when someone doesn't realise that their device is still picking up sound.
During question time in the house on Tuesday, the leader of the libertarian Act party, David Seymour continued to ask Ms Ardern questions about her government's record, asking if she could “give an example of her making a mistake, apologising for it properly, and fixing it”.
She said a key component of New Zealand’s Covid-19 response had been tough for the public, but she said she stood by the work the government had done over the past term.
Once she finished her response she sat down next to her deputy, Grant Robertson, and said “such an arrogant pr**k”.
Mr Seymour later was insistent that Ms Ardern withdraw the remark and apologise, but Adrian Rurawhe, Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, declined because Ms Ardern left the house.
Ms Ardern's office then later said she apologised to Mr Seymour for the comment.
When asked by The Associated Press to clarify, Ms Ardern's office did not dispute the comment.
Mr Seymour said: “some days I am a useless Māori, others days I am an arrogant pr**k.”
He continued: "I'm absolutely shocked and astonished at her use of language. It's very out of character for Jacinda, and I've personally known her for 11 years."
He said it was also ironic because his question to the Prime Minister had been about whether she had ever admitted a mistake as a leader and then fixed it.
"And she couldn't give a single example of when she's admitted she's wrong and apologised," Mr Seymour said.
Mr Seymour said that in her text Ms Ardern wrote that she "apologised, she shouldn't have made the comments, and that, as her mum said, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it".
Mr Seymour said he thanked her for the apology and wished her a very merry Christmas.
He graciously concluded: "At the end of the day, it’s not the end of the world.”
In January, US President Joe Biden thought his microphone was off when he called a Fox News reporter, Peter Doocy, “a stupid son of a bitch” for asking a question about inflation.
