You know you are in trouble when you are facing criticism for something that you have done, and all you can do in your defence is to pull the race or gender card. That is what has happened recently when Simon Bridges criticised the prime minister. Instead of being able to defend her record as a hard-working MP, who is devoted to making the lives of New Zealanders better, her supporters and henchmen all came out in unison and screamed… sexism.
Simon Bridges, however, was not having a bar of it.
Simon Bridges says it’s not sexist to level criticism at the Prime Minister in the wake of comments from controversial talkback host Alan Jones.
Jones is under heavy fire for his comment that Jacinda Ardern should have a sock shoved down her throat while she was at the Pacific Leaders Forum.
Bridges told The AM Show he thinks Jones went too far, but there’s nothing wrong with having a crack at the Prime Minister.
“It is not sexist to criticise the Prime Minister.
“Actually if you take me I do it from time to time because I disagree with her fundamentally, whether it’s on Ihumatao, whether its on petrol taxes. That’s not sexism, that’s calling it as I see it.”
Of course, it is not sexist. Jacinda Ardern needs to stand and fall on her performance, which admittedly is woeful. She considers herself a feminist, meaning that she should be able to stand up for herself, yet her henchmen appear to her left and right as soon as there is a hint of criticism.
That tells you that everyone knows how poor she is at her job. Nobody would ever have said that a critic of Helen Clark was being sexist. No one would have dared.
But cries of sexism and racism usually tend to shut down any argument, and it is very interesting that Jacinda’s supporters always cry sexism when she is criticised – usually quite fairly.
Bridges faced accusations of sexism when he labelled Ardern a “part-time Prime Minister” during her trip to Tokelau in July.
He still stands by those comments though, even after The AM Show host Duncan Garner told him he went too far.
Newshub
No. He didn’t go too far. He said what many of us were thinking. It may have been an ‘official’ visit, but in truth, her trip to Tokelau was nothing more than a jaunt and she should have been here in New Zealand, concentrating on the problems at home.
I like it though. As soon as her supporters scream ‘sexism’, you know they have lost the argument. You know that they know that the prime minister is hopeless but they are relying on her to keep themselves well paid and well placed at the public teat. So, if it means they have to massage the truth a bit…they will.
The gloss really is rubbing off the fairy princess. And it’s about time.