Judith Collins has explained why she hasn't removed her fake news tweet.
Appearing on The AM Show on Friday, she told host Duncan Garner that backing down would only make the situation worse.
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"You know what it's like, Duncan, on social media. Once you delete something that becomes even more of a story," she explained.
"I'm not the one promoting anything."
The National MP was caught out taking aim at the Prime Minister. Ms Collins called on Jacinda Ardern to denounce France for voting against having an age of consent because of an alleged campaign by liberal activists to legitimise paedophilia around the world.
"Is @jacindaardern willing to denounce this legislation of child sexual abuse?" Ms Collins tweeted.
However the story came from a website known for its fake news, with other headlines including 'Hundreds Of Scientists Debunk Darwin's Theory Of Evolution' and 'FBI Admits "Aliens From Other Dimensions" Have Visited Earth'.
Journalist Matt Nippert tweeted Ms Collins, saying, "The site Judith is retweeting is described by Snopes as a 'notorious fake news-generating website' and is famous for such stories as 'Katy Perry: 'Human Flesh Is The Best Meat; Cannibalism Got A Bad Rap'."
"Then she [Ardern] won't have any trouble denouncing it - will she?" Ms Collins responded.
Her actions led to widespread criticism and calls on her to remove the fake news from her Twitter timeline.
"As far as we know, this is the first time a mainstream New Zealand politician has spread a false story in order to score points politically," wrote The Project host Jesse Mulligan.
"When fake is given the same platform as fact, truth becomes a matter of opinion. You can disguise lies as reality and the facts lose any power they once had.
"It starts with acts like this, and that's why we're calling Judith Collins out - we're telling her to #deletethetweet."
But Ms Collins is laughing the controversy away.
"It would have been better if I hadn't, but there we go," she told The AM Show host Amanda Gillies.
"I also work on this basis Amanda: life is way too short to go round worrying about everything."
Newshub.
