With the prime minister experiencing protests and confrontational scenes outside of Wellington, there has been an uncomfortable pattern, an observed modus operandi when faced with such criticism/defiance.

In March this year, it was decided that Ms Ardern would stop doing a weekly morning meeting with Mike Hosking. While the station is the top-performing commercial radio show in the entire country, a statement from the Prime Minister’s office said:

“The Prime Minister’s schedule of media appearances has been reviewed and while it hasn’t reduced overall, it has changed.”

This was rejected by many New Zealanders, while Mike Hosking commented that “…the Prime Minister is a lightweight at answering tough questions. The number of times she’s fronted on this programme with no knowledge around the questions I’m asking is frightening”.

Only days ago in Northland, Ms Ardern was visibly flummoxed when she was given direct questioning from an American pharmacist and Counterspin’s Chief Medical Correspondent Shane Chafin. Mr Chafin asked about the current infection fatality rate for COVID-19, her knowledge about the person who died from the vaccination, the Israel study showing efficacy drop in the Pfizer vaccine; at this point, Ms Ardern shut down the press conference and moved to a more controlled area.

Most recently, the Prime Minister cancelled a trip to Whanganui, to avoid protestors.

And alongside the protesters and shutdowns, viral videoclips have emerged as the footage is taken by New Zealanders themselves.

Claire Ward is the latest to go viral, and her passionate video has been shared hundreds of times. In it, she displays an erudite and experienced understanding of the mental anguish held by many New Zealanders, as well as accurate observations of what has been occurring in New Zealand society since Ms Ardern took power in 2017:

https://www.facebook.com/claire.ward.965580/videos/311072760516404

By TeKāhu