A National Party candidate for the upcoming election has resigned after coming under fire over posts on his social media.
"Stephen Jack has tonight resigned as National's candidate for Taieri," a National Party spokesperson said.
Stuff reported on Sunday that Jack shared a video in 2020 containing the joke: "I like my Covid like I like my women. 19. And easy to spread."
National's deputy leader Nicola Willis branded the joke "disgusting".
Today, she told Newstalk ZB he had apologised — and added it would be "incredibly unwise for him to do anything like that again".
Stuff reported today that Jack also re-posted a poem on Facebook in 2021 containing lines comparing former prime minister Jacinda Ardern to Adolf Hitler.
"Just as Hitler had the SS, our prime minister's on the job. She's given up on the police and bought the Mongrel Mob," it read.
It comes after National leader Christopher Luxon defended the party's vetting process following the original revelation.
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