National Party leader Christopher Luxon has hit back over a video circulating online of him speaking to voters in Nelson on Wednesday.
Luxon is currently travelling around New Zealand as part of National's 'Get NZ Back on Track' tour.
He was in Nelson on Tuesday, where meeting attendees asked him about bilingual road signs - saying they didn't understand them and wanted "some action", the video posted on Twitter showed.
"The first thing you gotta do, buddy, is you gotta vote October 14 to get me in there to Government," Luxon responded.
Twitter users had since widely circulated the video, with left-leaning commentators accusing Luxon of "cultivating the racist vote".
However, Luxon has fired back - saying the video was shortened and taken out of context.
"That is a Labour hit job and a beat-up of taking a very judicious clip and putting something together on Twitter last night," Luxon told AM on Wednesday.
"Let's be honest, that's their election strategy, isn't it? To come after me personally, do something every week because they haven't got a record to run on, and they haven't got new ideas."
National MP Chris Bishop has also fired back in support of his boss, posting a longer version of the Nelson meeting video on Twitter.
After telling attendees concerned about bilingual road signs to vote for him, Luxon goes on to say many New Zealanders "grew up learning the te reo version of the national anthem and that's been fantastic".
"For many Kiwis, they haven't had that opportunity and that's really difficult," Luxon said.
"I am of the view that we should rename our Government departments in English so that people can navigate their Government, but I'm also of the view that, actually, we actually should have te reo on there and we can have dual language on it - but you have to have a choice, right?"
Bishop said the full context of the video showed "the fake outrage factory needs to stand down".
Luxon, meanwhile, told AM the video circulating wasn't a surprise.
"I would just encourage you, and I would encourage anyone watching, to jump online and actually see the full response that I gave," he told co-host Isobel Ewing.
"What that was, there was a heckler at the back and I was just saying to him, 'Hang on, I'm not in Government - that's what I'm trying to do for October 14' - and I came back and answered the gentleman's question.
"I'm just one of the people who says how things are, straight up and so I'm telling people what my response is to their questions and how I think about it."
