The deputy mayor and the far-right platforms

Whanganui deputy mayor Jenny Duncan made guest appearances on online platforms that spread disinformation.

In March, Duncan was interviewed on far-right Counterspin Media and The Daily Examiner, which have spread false claims about Covid-19, vaccines and conspiracy theories.

She was explaining an opinion article she’d written criticising police for their actions during the occupation of Parliament grounds. Duncan, who has said she is unvaccinated and anti-mandate, was at the protest on its 10th day.

Duncan – who is seeking reelection to Whanganui District Council – says she won’t appear on either talk show again, but doesn’t regret the interviews’ content.

She spent 15 minutes talking with Counterspin hosts Kelvyn Alp and Hannah Spierer. Alp, an extremist and former soldier who set up an anti-government militia in the 2000s, was a mouthpiece of the occupation, agitating for protesters to storm Parliament buildings and arrest MPS. He also made references to killing politicians.

Alp and Spierer have often falsely claimed Covid-19 was a hoax and vaccination programmes attempted genocide, and called for a violent overthrow of the Government. This year, Counterspin published excerpts from the 2019 Christchurch mosque terrorist’s livestream. Their conspiracy-driven news outlet is modelled on Alex Jones’ Infowars and was once streamed on the GTV network, founded by Steve Bannon.

Alp and Spierer were arrested last week and charged with distributing an objectionable publication. In court yesterday, the pair refused to enter the dock before being remanded on bail without plea for three weeks.

During the March interview with Duncan, Alp gives a monologue on overthrowing democracy

and MPS ‘‘who are nothing but parasitical leeches . . . doing the same thing for their foreign-controlling bosses ... rolling out agendas. That whole system is corrupt, the whole system needs to go.’’ Duncan nods along to his words. In an interview with Stuff, she said this was ‘‘active listening’’.

‘‘Alarm bells were ringing before it started, but I’d committed, and I always make my commitments, and so I toughed it out for 10 minutes, OK.’’

Asked why she didn’t disagree with his points, she said: ‘‘It all happened really fast ... What happened is what happened.’’

In Duncan’s opinion article, published in a local community paper and on the Daily Examiner, she criticised police for their response on the final day of the 23-day occupation, which ended in fire and a violent riot. There were more than 80 arrests and police staff suffered 154 injuries over the course of the protest, 47 of which required medical attention.

But during the Counterspin interview, she admitted she didn’t watch livestreams beyond the afternoon because she found it ‘‘too traumatic’’. ‘‘I didn’t stay and watch closely to that stuff at the very end of the day when the agitators arrived and the fires and stuff. There’s only so much you can handle,’’ she told Alp.

Stuff asked if she was qualified to write a piece accusing police of violence when she hadn’t watched footage of the riot. ‘‘I did see what I saw enough to be able to make the comments that I made,’’ she said.

The Daily Examiner, a website that pushes false and misleading information about the pandemic and other conspiracy theories, gave Duncan a 20-minute slot.

‘‘I don’t think we’ve seen the truth from mainstream media,’’ she told host Elliot Ikilei. ‘‘They’re a mouthpiece for the Government that’s got an agenda,’’ she said, echoing comments she made to Counterspin.

Duncan also described the occupation of Parliament as ‘‘absolutely freaking amazing’’.