New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, known by Fox News host Tucker Carlson as “the lady with the big teeth who tormented her citizens,” has announced that she’ll be resigning on Feb. 7th, ostensibly because she’s burned out.
“I am not leaving because it was hard. Had that been the case, I probably would have departed two months into the job,” she said at a press conference Thursday.
“I am leaving because with such a privileged role comes responsibility, the responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead, and also, when you are not. I know what this job takes, and I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It is that simple,” she added.
Listen:
(Video: Associated Press/YouTube)
Her announcement triggered two distinct responses: celebration and suspicion.
Over on Fox News’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” the show’s eponymous host celebrated the “rare good news” by reviewing Ardern’s history as prime minister
He zeroed in specifically on her draconian COVID lockdown policies, describing her as the “most authoritarian leader that country has ever had” and an “appalling abuser of human rights of her own people.”
“She, of course, earned the admiration of Western leaders including former CIA director Michael Hayden by ushering in an era of near totalitarianism in New Zealand. She shut down the entire country over a single COVID case. She told everyone to stay in their bubbles, she told citizens to inform on their neighbors by calling the police if they saw them outside,” he said.
Listen:
The celebration could also be seen on social media:
Just in: Live shots of NZ reacting to Jacinda Ardern’s resignation. pic.twitter.com/L8OOdz7vAU
— Rukshan Fernando (@therealrukshan) January 19, 2023
Mini dictator who ruined NZ economy for a decade. Bye bye Felicia. May your loins be infested with the fleas of 1000 camels and may your arms be too short to scratch them.
— Steve (@DrBlocka) January 19, 2023
We need smart and honest politicians, not ideologized morons that believe whatever is coming from the global order.
So bye bye Jacinda.— Carlo C Buchal (@buchal_c) January 19, 2023
Bye bye…… horrendous politician who clearly knew she was about to lose in a landslide….. another socialist gone. Good riddance
— doober (@meljla22) January 19, 2023
Ding dong the witch @jacindaardern is gone! Bye bye! https://t.co/5LuZn4eVuj
— Freedom Forever (@FreedomRocks21) January 19, 2023
The second response was suspicion that Ardern was lying about her reason for resigning. After all, her announcement comes only weeks after she was caught on a hot mic calling the leader of an opposing party an “arrogant prick.”
The incident happened last month on the floor of the New Zealand House of Representatives after opposition party leader David Seymour asked Ardern if she could “give an example of her making a mistake, apologizing for it properly, and fixing it,” as reported at the time by The Guardian.
“Responding to the question, Ardern acknowledged that managed isolation – a key, but controversial, component of New Zealand’s Covid-19 response – had been difficult on the public, but added she stood by the work the government had done over the past term,” according to The Guardian.
After she concluded speaking, Arden then sat down and, thinking her mic was now off, called Seymour “such an arrogant prick.”
Listen:
The PM’s in hot water after calling David Seymour an “arrogant prick” in the House.
Seymour demanded an apology 20 minutes later, which she gave despite having left the House.
https://t.co/PuTOQucmpG pic.twitter.com/1AfzrTMbmR
— 1News (@1NewsNZ) December 13, 2022
Ardern subsequently apologized, and she and Seymour then agreed to sell off a transcript of her hot mic remark.
“After the acrimonious exchange went viral, the pair – normally at odds politically – joined forces in a show of Christmas goodwill to sign and auction off a copy of the parliamentary record for charity. All funds would go to prostate cancer research “for pricks everywhere,” according to The Guardian.
The transcript wound up being sold for NZ$100,000 ($63,200).
In a statement Thursday issued in response to Ardern’s resignation announcement, Seymour briefly mentioned the whole incident.
“While we rarely see eye to eye on political matters, we have remained collegial and have been able to team up for a good cause when the opportunity arose, most recently to raise over $100,000 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation by auctioning off the signed ‘arrogant prick’ transcript,” he said.
“Jacinda is a well-meaning person, but her idealism collided hard with reality. Unfortunately, this has left the country with big problems: the economy, the lawlessness, the Treaty,” he added.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.