Jack stands down

Newshub reports:

Stephen Jack has tonight resigned as National’s candidate for Taieri, a National spokesperson has confirmed to Newshub.

Jack’s resignation comes after two controversial social media posts recently came to light.

The first was reported by Stuff on Sunday, revealing Jack shared a video in 2020 which contained the joke: “I like my COVID like I like my women. 19. And easy to spread.”

The second offensive post reported earlier on Wednesday showed that in 2021, Jack reposted a poem on his personal Facebook account originally shared by an Otago farmer. In the since-deleted post, which Newshub has seen, it likened former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to Hitler.

“Cindy’s showing us her colours; we know why she chose red. She started out a communist and lately this has spread,” the poem read.

“Just as Hitler had the SS, our prime minister’s on the job. She’s given up on the police and bought the Mongrel Mob.”

Comparing politicians to Hitler is always a very bad idea. It is insulting to victims of Hitler, and always makes you look unbalanced.