Kinew takes ‘full responsibility and makes no excuses’ for offensive tweets

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/03/2016 (3584 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Premier Greg Selinger is standing behind his party’s besieged Fort Rouge candidate Wab Kinew.

Selinger and Kinew, along with several NDP MLAs and supporters, banded together at Kinew’s campaign office Friday afternoon to pledge their support for the former hip-hop artist and broadcaster. Kinew has come under increasing fire in the past two weeks after misogynistic and homophobic tweets and hip-hop lyrics from his past came to light.

“The reality is Wab, before he came into political life, made a complete apology for any of the things he has done in the past that has hurt other people, emotionally or physically, it is right there in his book (The Reason You Walk),” said Selinger at the news conference. “When a person can admit to the errors they have made and commit themselves to new behaviour and a new course of action, that’s the kind of people we want.” 

A series of tweets from as late as 2012 from Kinew included remarks poking fun at poor children in Attawapiskat and comments referring to “fat chicks”, among other questionable tweets, which drew the ire of the Manitoba Liberals. The Liberals had faced similar scrutiny from the NDP after offensive tweets from their newly nominated Southdale candidate Jamie Hall were released by the NDP.

The Liberals held a news conference Friday morning, calling on Selinger to force Kinew off the ballot.

Kinew didn’t deny that he wrote the tweets, telling the media he takes “full responsibility and makes no excuses” for the tweets.

“I have stood up and done the hard work of making myself a better person,” Kinew said.

In reference to the Attawapiskat tweet, in which he wrote in 2012, “Riding in my limo back to my king sized sweet feeling really bad for those kids in Attawapiskat,” he said it was supposed to be satire.

“One of the things that is common in the First Nations community is to have a healthy dose of self-deprecating humour,” Kinew said. “What I am making fun of there is my own privilege, I am making fun of the fact for some fluke of the universe I was given a ton of opportunity.”

When asked if he regretted the tweet, he added he regretted not adding, “#satire,” but also said he would apologize to the people of Attawapiskat if he was to run into anyone from the Northern Ontario First Nation. 

The group of Liberal candidates, led by St. Johns candidate Noel Bernier, called Kinew’s comments damaging and offensive. 

Bernier, who is Métis, said if the NDP refuses to drop Kinew from their slate, then they are standing “beside those comments.”

“They (the tweets) are horribly offensive to indigenous children, to women, to the most vulnerable people in our society, this isn’t about his lyrics anymore,” Bernier said.  “He should go, but it should be Mr. Selinger making that decision.”

The war between the NDP and Liberals over offensive social media comments began over a week ago, when Health Minister Sharon Blady held a news conference to point out misogynistic comments made by Hall, the newly nominated Liberal Southdale candidate. The NDP urged the Liberals to remove Hall as their candidate.

The next day, Liberal leader Rana Bokhari announced the party had cut all ties with Hall.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Jen Zoratti | Next

Wednesdays

What's next in arts, life and pop culture.

Sign up for Jen Zoratti | Next

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

“They started this,” said Bernier. “This was a bar set by them. This was an expectation level of ethics set by our government, they are the ones who set that bar when they called for the resignation of Jamie Hall.”

When asked if Kinew was fair game, considering the fact the NDP had called for Hall’s resignation, Selinger remarked that Kinew had made a sincere apology before he entered the political realm. 

“I ask you to examine the behaviour of the other candidate (Hall), what he did before he was in the political game, what he did while he was there and what he did after,” Selinger said. “I think it is a different story.”

kristin.annable@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @kristinannable