A former Australian football league star and TV presenter faced a stinging backlash online after he derided New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s accent in her speech to parliament following the Christchurch attacks.
Ardern has been widely praised at home and abroad for her handling of the tragedy, including her quickly-enacted gun control measures. She was also praised for a rousing speech in parliament in which she urged her fellow citizens not to mention the name of the perpetrator of the attack.
But former Aussie rules star turned media personality Sam Newman, 73, decided that Ardern’s accent, and not the content of her speech, was the most striking aspect of the moment.
“How grating is her accent?” Newman asked his Twitter followers.
The backlash to his unsolicited hot take was swift and vitriolic, given the insensitive timing following the massacres in which 50 people were killed and a further 50 injured.
However, the former sports star and provocateur did not back down, describing Ardern’s accent as “ghastly” and adding that he had no issue with what she said.
Newman has courted controversy before, claiming in 2018 that Australia’s Muslim community “share no common interest” with their fellow citizens.
“There are 600,000 Muslims in Australia, they share no common interest with what we’re on about,” he said, reacting to two Muslim Aussie rules players embracing, following inflammatory comments by a senator who called for a “final solution” to immigration.
Newman has previously given hot takes on controversial topics ranging from homophobia, black face and sexism, to indecent exposure.
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