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National leader Simon Bridges defended himself after receiving an avalanche of negativity in a Facebook post criticizing the government’s Covid-19 response.
Bridges posted on Facebook Monday night after the government’s decision to extend the level 4 block for five days, saying he should have been ready to break out of the block sooner.
“The public has done a great job of self-isolation and social distancing. The entire country has made great sacrifices to ensure that the four-week blockade was effective,” Bridges said.
“Unfortunately, the government has not done enough and is not prepared for its own standards and rhetoric.”
The post received over 24,000 comments, far more than the hundreds of Bridges posts typically receive.
The tone of the comments seen by Things were overwhelmingly but not uniformly negative, with many people describing themselves as national voters saying they disagreed.
A comment with about 6,000 likes from Monique Wilson said, “I didn’t vote for the job, but what I’m proud of is the way Jacinda [Ardern] It has taken us through this unprecedented time. Thank God, Simon, you are not guiding us through this because I put my hand on my heart and I think we would be in a worse situation. “
Another with about 2000 “likes” by Debbie Kelliher said “Simon, I’m a national fan but I don’t support what you just said.”
More than 7,500 people gave an “angry” reaction to the post, while 5,700 gave a “laugh” reaction, compared to 2,800 likes.
Some comments were supportive, with Darren Mills writing that he agreed with Bridges as “Not enough time was spent on the economic side of this.”
Bridges defended himself when asked by the media about today’s post, saying the negativity was balanced by the numerous messages of support he received.
“There will be a lot of different views, I know there are online views,” said Bridges.
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Simon Bridges: “Unfortunately, the government has not done enough and is not ready for its own standards and rhetoric.”
“They are more than matched by the 50,000 people who contacted us about our quarantine request and wanted to support that.”
“The thousands of people who contact me, hundreds of people a day, mothers and fathers, small businesses, who want National to ask the questions and stand up for them.”
“People have a right to their views.”
Bridges said some of the messages from small business owners made him cry as these business owners felt like “slaughtered lambs.”
This publication is understood and the negative reaction did not go unnoticed in the national committee.
Bridges generally has much less reach on social media than his opponent, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, although current leaders generally outperform opposition politicians.
Ardern has over a million Facebook likes compared to just under 50,000 for Bridges. He has close to a million followers on Instagram, while Bridges has just over 7000.
