Barnaby Joyce has broken his silence and shared what happened last Wednesday night, when he was spotting lying on the ground and swearing in a slurred manner on his phone.
The politician has become the subject of all kinds of memes since the Daily Mail released the footage of him muttering “dead fucking cunt” while on the ground, after he fell off a pot plant he had been sitting on. Given his history of public antics (remember when he discussed JFK assassination conspiracy theories, or when he somehow watched the wrong Matildas game, or, you know, his literal affair with a younger staffer that resulted in a baby), it’s no surprise that this situation was ripe for the picking.
However, Joyce has since revealed the toppling was a result of mixing medication with alcohol.
“I’m on a prescription drug and they say certain things may happen to you if you drink and they were absolutely 100 per cent right,” he told Sunrise on Monday.
“Obviously, I made a big mistake, there’s no excuse for it. It was a very eventful walk home, wasn’t it?
“I’m not looking for sympathy and I’m not looking for an excuse.
“I came back, sat on a planter box and I was videotaped.”
In a separate statement made the day the video leaked, Joyce told ABC News he was really “embarrassed” about the whole thing. Turns out it was himself that he was swearing at, for falling over.
“While on the phone I sat on the edge of a plant box, fell over, kept talking on the phone, and very animatedly was referring to myself for having fallen over,” he said.
“I got up and walked home.”
Despite the rather sordid nature of the story, Aussies have been having a grand old time making jokes about what is fast becoming a rather iconic moment in Australian politics — with someone even drawing a chalk outline of where Barnaby Joyce had been laying.
The jokes, while tongue in cheek, have drawn criticism from Opposition leader Peter Dutton. No surprise there.
“It’s pretty rough when people are walking past somebody who might be in need of support,” he said.
Wow, I never thought I’d see “no monster” Dutton show some empathy and compassion.
“I understand a chalk mark has been drawn on the footpath – it can only happen in Canberra where all those Greens and Labor staffers are,” he continued.
Yep, he just had to ruin it.
Image: Sam Mooy/Getty Images
