Oops! Hot mic picks up 'arrogant p****' in parliament
New Zealand's Prime Minister is apologizing after the words "What an arrogant pri--!" were heard over her hot microphone, in reference to another lawmaker.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (KFOR/Storyful) - New Zealand's Prime Minister is apologizing after the words "What an arrogant prick!" were heard over her hot microphone, in reference to another lawmaker.
After the incident, PM Jacinda Ardern apologized to Act Party leader David Seymour via text, according to Seymour, who had been grilling the PM with questions related to policy, such as, "Can the Prime Minister give an example of her making a mistake, apologizing for it properly, and fixing it?"
Ardern admitted that on "a number of occasions" she and her government had done that very thing. She then sat down, and was heard making the colorful statement.
Seymour told Newstalk ZB he’d "been called much worse."
"At the end of the day, it’s not the end of the world," he told the NZ Herald. Seymour said Ardern wrote in a text, "'I apologize, it’s not something I should have said,' and she said, 'As my mum would say, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it.'"
Seymour said he texted back, wishing Ardern a Merry Christmas.