Morgan lets his inner Trump out on Twitter
When economist Gareth Morgan launched his bid for Parliament last year, he compared himself to Donald Trump because of his antiestablishment approach.
The two men now have another thing in common — a tendency to be short and sharp on Twitter.
Morgan, the leader of The Opportunities Party, yesterday defended the comments he made in an extraordinary two-hour argument on the social media site on Sunday night in which he called critics “whores” and raged against “bottom feeding” tourists and “PC culture” in New Zealand.
The argument started when Morgan criticised Tourism Minister Paula Bennett’s decision to rule out a tax on tourists because it would make New Zealand too expensive to visit.
Morgan tweeted that a tourist tax was not about imposing costs, but about “crap people, crapping on us with contempt, bottom feeders and bleeders”.
He suggested a ban on camping in public places unless in a selfcontained campervan. Many on Twitter agreed with the idea. But those who didn’t got short shrift from Morgan, who called them “idiots”, “doormats”, and on one occasion “Dumbkopf”.
“What’s your address. Can they come and s*** on your lawn?” he said to one Twitter critic.
Another person suggested New Zealanders were just as bad as tourists, prompting Morgan to say: “How can you differentiate a Kiwi s*** from a foreign one?” and “Visitors shouldn’t have the same rights anyway”.
When challenged on that comment, he added: “Only whores will do anything for money. Where are your values man — or can you be bought off 4 a few dimes.”
Morgan admitted it was partly a strategy to get attention.
“I always do it. It’s nothing to be wound up about.
“It’s a technique I’ve used forever, where you throw the marbles across the dance floor and see what happens.”
Morgan said he preferred to talk to voters directly, and this could be done through sites like Twitter.