On Thursday night, New Zealand Today went to air on TV3 with roughly half of its show dedicated to an exchange between the show’s host, Guy Williams, and Auckland mayoral candidate, Leo Molloy.
The piece was funny if not especially edifying. Even for the minority of us who do engage with local body politics, Leo Molloy is probably better known for his character rather than his policy positions.
Leo Molloy spent the vast majority of the segment teasing and insulting Guy. He used various low-level juvenile slurs and repeatedly accused Guy of being woke and soft. It ended with the pair having a boxing fight with novelty gloves before Guy recorded a parody endorsement video for Leo’s campaign.
Guy Williams is now facing a backlash for the piece. He’s been accused of platforming a mayoral candidate, of normalising offensive behaviour, and of ultimately helping Leo’s campaign. These are ridiculous critiques that only serve to further entrench the things they’re criticising.
Context is important. New Zealand Today’s audience is looking for a laugh. I can’t imagine many of the viewers tune in to what is clearly and obviously a comedy programme, expecting serious and robust analysis of local body politics. New Zealand Today is a comedy. It isn’t Q+A.
Nothing seems to highlight how damaged our political landscape has become quite like the current social media lynching of comedian Guy Williams.
Guy is less a poor mans Louis Theroux and more a bankrupt Oliver Driver.
He’s hilariously funny because the comedic pool he swims in is full of terribly unfunny too woke to joke comedians.
One’s who tweet angrily about Dave Chappelle or Ricky Gervais.
Guy is comedy adjacent because 7 Days is his competition.
His most recent interview with Leo is probably the funniest episode he’s done but the current dynamic of woke mob lynchings and deplatforming is the dominant activist philosophy of the Left right now and they want Guy hung drawn and quartered for enabling Leo.
That’s where we on the Left are now, we cancel comedians and denigrate anyone for laughing as war criminals.
Woke middle class identity politics dogma has infected the Left and spread faster than a new Covid variant on meth. Where we once focused on class, we now only champion intersctionist identity roulette.
“I am Trans, feminist, disabled, PoC and hear me #roar.”
Unfortunately this performative outrage olympics is as alienating as a cup of cold sick to the majority of the electorate and this is the very audience Leo Molloy is pitching to.
It is insanity personified that Leo is in second place, the last thing the Left needs is a culture war in the Auckland Mayoralty because trust me, the Left will lose!
No one would have seen this interview with Guy had Wayne Brown and the woke not alerted everyone. We haven’t appreciated the impact of social media in reshaping political battle lines.
I call it ‘Proxification’.
Because social media is now so ubiquitous, everyone has seen flameouts and vicious knife fights on contentious issues in their timelines and that activist screaming you are a Transphobic, Racist, Sexist, Vaccine-peddling, Satanic pedophile is enough for you to personally hate and be hurt and align yourself against that activist regardless of policy.
It wasn’t Trump saying outrageous things that attracted angry reactionary white working class vote, it was the intense reaction by middle class woke activists to Trump whom they had been insulted by that made the election so febrile.
Voters cut their noses off to spite their face because it angered people they despised.
If we on the Left aren’t talking about material progress in people’s lives (because challenging the neoliberal economic hegemonic structure is hard) and instead focus on the navel gazing of middle class identity aesthetics, those suffering economic misery walk away from us.
While we are arguing over pronouns, they are trying to find ways to pay for the rent!
That’s the same dynamic at play in NZ right now.
I warned the Left when Act was barely a 1% Party that if they jumped on the woke hate speech nonsense it would trigger a dormant political fault line. The woke activists didn’t listen, they tried to deplatform and control all speech and now ACT is a fucking 10% Party.
Guy Williams should not be cancelled (and neither should Jack for saying Guy shouldn’t be cancelled), it is the over the top pearl clutching deplatform cancellation that is triggering a populist revolt amongst voters and moving towards Leo as a candidate.
Outrage olympics on Twitter is killing the Left.
We need to be far kinder to individuals ands far crueller to corporations.
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Leo might win due to two reasons
1. Lack of support for Labour in Auckland — after 3 lockdowns
2. He’s authentic
Will only win if Lord & Brown remove themselves from the race. Neither will as won’t the establishment’s choice Viv Beck. Collins will win with a record breaking least-votes-but-still-win number.
Malloy would be great though if only for the amusement stakes before Mahutacorp removes him following his 500th slur in office.
Nice thinking — Lord, Brown, and Viv Beck…are the same type of politicians, talk left, act right…Collins, not totally sure what he is all about…Collins will win in South Auckland, but the rest of Auckland?
He does come from a family of very driven, high achievers, so it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if he won. The ones I know of do tend to drive others pretty hard too and often not is a particularly people friendly, caring kind of way, so maybe not the best outcome, though things might actually get done.
Richard, you have raised a good point here…regarding Leo’s drive…it might put him over.
what drive would that be then?Has had more leg ups from his wealthy sponsors in business than he did as a mediocre…jockey.
And he has a criminal conviction …
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/grace-millane-murder-leo-molloy-loses-appeal-over-conviction-for-jesse-kempson-suppression-breach/DHFXKHPTAEF6LGG53645QPBD4Y/
Love the imagery!
You said “That’s where we on the Left are now….”
So how long will you continue to associate with these people? They’re mostly wankers and you’re smart enough to know it!
So isn’t it about time you reconsidered your priorities and allegiances? You owe them nothing.
You’ve seen how they operate: they’ll stab you in the back and ruin your career for the slightest thing.
Go to the next ACT conference and meet a better class of person. You never know- you might enjoy the company! 🙂
Noone wants to hang out with chomos, Andrew.
Leo will stab you in the front!
I didn’t even realise the left wing Twitter brigade was angry at Guy – it never occurred to me that they should be. I watched the segment and thought Guy did a great job at handing Molloy some rope and allowing him to display the type of interpersonal skills he would bring to the job. Molloy clearly thought he was being funny and charming but spent way too much time denigrating huge demographics and talking about Guy’s penis. If anybody was more likely to vote for Molloy after watching that car crash then they will get the city they deserve.
He has my vote, we dont serve another commie mayor.
Phil Goff may be a lot of things but communist isn’t one of them.
Yes a change from the bullshit left.
Transparent sustainable and a bunch of other words that don’t mean anything.
Typical Bob loves a criminal must be a right wing thing what we see through Bob’s bullshit.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/grace-millane-murder-leo-molloy-loses-appeal-over-conviction-for-jesse-kempson-suppression-breach/DHFXKHPTAEF6LGG53645QPBD4Y/
Not a commie but a convict? Says a lot about you.
Do you live in Auckland Bert?
Why, is criminal behavior different in Auckland than the rest of New Zealand coward cabbage?
jeez you’re an angry bastard aren’t ya?
So tedheath you’re happy with Leo being a dictatorship mayor.
Saw Jack,’s tsk tsking. The youthful wannabe head prefect talking down the the rest of us morons about adult matters. Stick to Q & A Jack, where few go aside from terminal insomniacs!
Leo is a ray of sunshine and actually has some bonafide good ideas and he’s immensely likeable in a punch one in the face kind of way.
And he’s not in that pool of despair of politically correct wokedom or beige on gray that every other candidate is.
It’s such a blancmange of the same old I see everyone of them aside from Leo representing bike lanes. And that is badness!
Yes madness at the highest level by people who would have us believe they know what they’re doing.
Almost a silly as the Greens pot smoking cyclist’s.
Or as silly as Nationals ” don’t you know who I am” or leaders ponytail fetish. Then there’s ACT parties silly theft..
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4130949/MP-used-dead-childs-birth-certificate
Fuck you’re a know Bob.
I thought Guy did a great job interviewing complex Molloy. We got to see Molloy going for it in intense full flight…punches and all!
Well done Guy I am now a new follower of your show and can see that your quirky interviewing style has its merits and a place in NZ media.
Are you saying Q+A is not comedy…..
….and the Winner is?!! Leo Molloy. The new Auckland Mayor!
Thanks to the Weimar Wokester We-Public of Aucklanders from the burbs.
After he gets elected Mayor. Can he also run for PM too? Asking for 64% of Aucklanders that dont normally vote in the Ak Mayoralty race that hes talking too. And then the 20% of the undecided/I Dont Know voters in the up and coming general election in 2023!
Leo is a tory and has a better chance of running for leader of the opposition. Luxon is over his MSM honeymoon and with Willis have both been big failures and Leo would be a better leader. What did Luxon and Bridges etc gain on their overseas trip at the expense of the taxpayers? They were nobodies but attended some right wing conference where he dissed on business and government – a traitor.
I wonder if Guy is starting to wonder about the left now.
Nothing like the experience of being on the end of a lynch mob who try to cancel you to wake you up! I know I have been there.
Hiya Robs Mob….maybe Q & A have gotta chill abit….lol
Dreadful left wing lynch mobs never been any different.
Dreadful right wing lynch Bob’s never been any different!
Do you live in Auckland Bert?
Goodbye Sir Philip Goff, less a politician, more a space filling public servant all his life. This is what happens when a great vacuum retires.
Definitely a person whose great achievement was fence sitting. A visionary not. Passionate about nothing. Even flicked off council land to private hands like it was the 80’s but never campaigned on it.
Stood by whilst the government used Auckland as a dumping ground for the dysfunction of society, (because Rotorua was at bursting point), and had nothing to say on having vast majority of the MIQ’s in one small zone that in no small part caused Aucklands eternal lockdowns.
He got back in last time only because he was up against John Tamehere and there was a risk he may squeak in, so benefited from the candidate who smelt the least syndrome!
Absolutely due a knighthood!
If John Key can reinstate honors so he can give himself one, surely Phil Goff should get the VC and honours. Goff acheived more than Key. Key left a legacy of streets full of homeless, dirty politics, panama papers and property speculation.
Not to mention a knighthood for Trichophilia
“I am Trans, feminist, disabled, PoC and hear me #roar”…fucking brilliant! I want that t shirt.
Do you live in New Zealand cabbage?
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