Vision NZ leader Hannah Tamaki has posted a fake image on her Twitter account showing NZ First MP Shane Jones proudly showing off a picture of a Muslim woman riddled with bullet holes.
"What does this picture SAY?. About MP Shane Jones [sic]," the Destiny Church matriarch wrote on Twitter.
The original image, uploaded to Facebook by his wife Dot, showed the Regional Economic Development Minister holding up a generic target, showing off his impressive aim.
The version Tamaki tweeted however has been amended to include a woman in a black niqab, making it appear Jones was taking delight in gunning her down.
Anne Williamson, spokesperson for Tamaki, told Newshub she found the image on Facebook and Jones had been tagged in it.
"She wasn't actually making a comment at all about the Muslim women, and she didn't know whether it had been doctored or not."
Asked if Tamaki checked whether it was real or not before posting it, Williamson said "convincing posts go up on Facebook every day".
"But to be clear... she was not making a comment about Shane Jones or Muslim women. Definitely, that's not her and she wouldn't condone that at all. It was about a minister of the Crown who's participated in the making of a law where good, honest Kiwis have had their semi-automatic rifles taken from them, and he's on Facebook touting a semi-automatic rifle."
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Tamaki removed the post within minutes of Newshub getting in touch. Few Twitter users had seen the post beforehand.
"This is a vile, utterly repugnant post that reflects how low you will stoop," one person said.
Newshub was unable to reach Jones or anyone from NZ First immediately for comment.
NZ First, along with every other party in Parliament except ACT, backed the legislation which enabled the gun buyback.
Tamaki and her party have recently been accused of racism after suggesting refugees be paid to stay in the countries "they have managed to destroy".
The party's campaign manager Jevan Goulter called hijabs donned by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her predecessor Helen Clark, in solidarity with the Muslim community following the March 15 atrocity in Christchurch, "tea towels".
Newshub.
