Ardern’s gaffe goes global
The story about Jacinda Ardern having told a mate that Donald Trump mistook her for Mrs Trudeau has gone global with reports in the UK, Australia, US, Ireland and India.
There’s a few lessons to be learnt here.
The first is that Ardern needs to be more discreet in recounting tales of interactions with global leaders. She is the Prime Minister of New Zealand, and it is reasonably likely the stories have been seen by the US Government and Trump is unlikely to appreciate a story that makes it look like the PM of NZ has been telling stories that make him look like an idiot.
But the bigger lesson should be with Tom Sainsbury who betrayed Ardern’s confidence. He should have never ever recounted what she said on air. Sure to him it is just his mate Jacinda, but again she is the Prime Minister of NZ. He should have known that repeating what she said would lead to stories.
Over the years I have had countless conversations with MPs, Ministers and even PMs. Do you know how many I have ever repeated on air? Zero. I regard conversations as private.
The final aspect of this saga is how precious left activists are because a journalist vigorously questioned Ardern on the story she created.
For all the critics of my IV with the PM this morning:
When a PM tells a story that embarrasses the U.S President and isn’t 100% true… it’s my job to ask questions. Just as I do with National MPs.— Jack Tame (@jacktame) November 19, 2017
Tame even had columns appear in Stuff condemning him because he kept persisting with trying to get a straight answer from Ardern for six minutes. If Tame had challenged John Key for six minutes on an issue, he’d be held up as a champion of journalism and Key be condemned as evasive. But many on the left can’t abide anything that is challenging of Ardern.