Greens co-leader Marama Davidson has stopped short of apologising after sharing a post containing violent remarks aimed at Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour and Foreign Minister Winston Peters.
The original video was posted by Tania Waikato, a lawyer for the Toitū Te Tiriti movement, who has expressed interest in becoming a Green Party MP.
On the video, Waikato wrote: “I know it’s going to be hard not to punch David Seymour and Winston.”
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Davidson, who previously served as Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, re-posted the video earlier this week, on her social media account, triggering online criticism.
In a statement sent to chrislynchmedia.com, Davidson said, “Violence should never be directed at anyone.
“I have myself experienced and seen abhorrent abuse directed toward wahine, members of the rainbow community, Māori, and other marginalised groups.
“I want to be clear that is not what I was endorsing in this instance.
“What the post illustrated was the deep frustration that many people are feeling, stemming from the divisive and harmful rhetoric being used by some political leaders.
“The point could have been made without language which could have been read as condoning violence.”
New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour told chrislynchmedia.com “The problem with the Greens ideology, is that everybody is a member of a group. You either colonised, or a coloniser.
“You oppressed, or an oppressor. So it goes on in the world of identity politics. The problem is, they never think of the individual. And so it’s no surprise, that they are blind, to threats against an individual” Seymour said.
