Jacinda Ardern Issues Apology After Violating Social Distancing Rules For Selfie
Image via photocosmos1 / Shutterstock.com
New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern apologized to the media after she came under fire for taking a selfie with fans.
Ardern is known to snap photos with supporters but due to the looming fear of COVID-19, she apologized for being too casual and ignoring the rules of social distancing.
Ardern was touring Palmerston North when a group of people asked if they could have a photo with her. A passerby snapped a photo of the moment, showing that she didn’t take the necessary steps to keep everyone at a distance. The group, and Ardern herself, was also caught not wearing any masks.
Social media users were quick to call the prime minister out, and she immediately realized her mistake and issued an apology. “In that particular photo I made a mistake. Yes I should have moved further forwards and I should have asked them to step apart as well,” she told reporters, according to The New Zealand Herald.
New Zealand politician David Seymour criticized Arden, tweeting, “Hospitality businesses are going broke at alert level 2 because of a single server and social distance rules. Meanwhile, the person responsible for the rules is breaking them - small business owners will be angry.”
Hospitality businesses can't make money at Level 2 because of single server and social distancing rules. Meanwhile, the person responsible for the rules is self-serving and not social distancing. pic.twitter.com/4HUMKJNkU4
— David Seymour (@dbseymour) September 18, 2020
New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern is apologizing after taking a maskless selfie with supporters pic.twitter.com/7rP5F3imXA
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) September 21, 2020
[via The Hill, cover image via photocosmos1 / Shutterstock.com]
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