New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says he is "not backing down one iota" and will not apologise for comments he made linking race relations in New Zealand to Nazi Germany.
But he might just have to back down from his theme tune as Chumbawamba, the band who wrote the hit 'Tubthumping', read his comments and have told him to cease and desist from using it.
In a statement to Stuff, Chumbawumba's guitarist wrote it was "entirely odd that the 'I get knocked down...' refrain is being used by Peters as he barks his divisive, small-minded, bigoted policies during his recent speeches".
Chumbawumba stuck the knife in further, saying the band doesn't share any of Peters' ideas on race relations and the song was "not about rich politicians trying to win votes by courting absurd conspiracy theories and spouting misguided racist ideologies".
Peters on Tuesday evening said the party had not "received any cease-and-desist phone call, email, letter, or anything of the sort from the former band nor any other representative – and we don’t expect to".
It's not just the soundtrack but the speech itself that's causing Peters problems, particularly his likening of race relations to Nazi Germany.
"I've seen that sort of philosophy before. I saw it in Nazi Germany, we all did," Peters said on Sunday.
He is not backing down despite being spoken to by the Prime Minister.
"I am not listening to either of yours's crap," he said on Tuesday.
He accused the media of misrepresenting him in a ranting media release, claiming he never mentioned co-governance or the Holocaust.
"I'm not backing down one iota," he said.
"I want everybody in this country no matter whether they're here for 1000 years or here yesterday legally to be treated the same - equally as one people... I make no apology for that."
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon earlier said: "We had a conversation yesterday afternoon and as I've been saying I call on all political leaders of all political parties to watch the language."
Peters made the comments during a section of his speech labelled 'Labour Government Failures'.
"The insidious creep of racist co-governance," Peters said before then making the comments about Nazi Germany.
Asked by Newshub afterwards if it was appropriate to compare co-governance to Nazi Germany, Peters said: "Yes, it is."
"That is what it is based on. It is based on racial preference, it is based on somebody being superior."
But by the following morning the story had shifted, and Peters was claiming it had nothing to do with co-governance and everything to do with Rawiri Waititi.
"Last year Waititi from the Māori Party said that Māori have superior DNA," he said on Monday.
He and his party think it's been overblown.
"I think there's a lot of catastrophisation going on," said Shane Jones.
Amid questions on Tuesday, Peters told media to "stop lying".
Jenna Lynch Analysis
This is textbook Winston Peters deflection, obfuscation and retrospective narrative building.
In the words of Mr Peters himself words matter, and in this case, the words and facts are stacked against him.
