Winston Peters has been fighting a war of words with the media for decades. But he's adopted a new phrase in his arsenal in recent times: “leftie shill”.
It popped up in the wake of last year’s election campaign and has now come back with a vengeance after the Deputy PM faced a wave of criticism for comparing co-governance to Nazi Germany.
He has since claimed it was in reference to an alleged statement by Te Pati Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi that Māori DNA was superior.
In a typically combative interview on TVNZ’s Breakfast this morning, he used the phrase "leftie shill" four times.
Some “leftie shill like you” he told Breakfast presenter Anna Burns-Francis, was responsible for stirring up the other issue in Peters’ week – the band Chumbawamba asking him to stop using their song Tubthumping at his rallies because they don’t agree with his politics.
Peters has been told not to use Tubthumping by the band and have asked for Sony to issue a cease and desist notice. 1News (Source: 1News)
He also referred to the media’s “shill leftie biased message” on a couple of occasions.
So what is a “leftie shill” exactly?
The leftie bit speaks for itself. (Peters also used the phrase "pinko" a couple of times.) As for shill, Collins dictionary defines it as: “A confidence trickster's assistant, esp a person who poses as an ordinary customer, gambler, etc, in order to entice others to participate.”
Merriam-Webster says it comes from the early 1900s, referring to a con artist who helped others take people’s money. “For example, a shill might be paid to fake a big win at a casino to make a game look easily winnable.”
And according to Wikipedia, a shill is a person who "publicly helps or gives credibility to a person or organisation without disclosing that they have a close relationship with said person or organisation".
A fair description of New Zealand media? You decide.
See also from the Peters’ insult files: Philadelphia Lawyer.
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