Todd Muller: First impressions (Patreon)

Todd Muller knifed Simon Bridges just three days ago now, but in that time we've had an opportunity to get some early impressions.

His speech announcing his own leadership was fine without being startling. It had all the hallmarks of a traditional National Party leader's speech. I think we'd forgotten what that was like given Bridges has been anything but conventional.

His best line and the one that has all received the most attention was that "First and foremost I'm about what's best for you and your family, not what's wrong with the Government... I'm not interested in opposition for opposition's sake."

However that was the high-water mark for Muller, and since that speech it's not been a great start.

Almost immediately leaks started pouring from camp Bridges. It's been reported that Todd only won the leadership by one vote. This was done to suggest that Muller has not been the unifying force that he's tried to present himself as. I'm not sure this result is likely to be true given that only whip Barbara Kuriger truly knows the result and I doubt she'd leak. It's possible though.

Then I started hearing from people in Simon's team, which, if you know my history, is an unusual turn of events. 

"Our loyalty to Simon wasn't based on his politics, it was based on the fact that he treated us all as people and cared about every single one of us, unlike Todd and Nikki who just told a combined gathering of staff (who had all just lost their jobs) that this is all "natural" which sent the staff into a spiral...I suspect the team will leave before giving [Todd and Nikki] the opportunity to [do a complete clean out]. Simon fired none of Bill's staff." 

Then in the morning I woke up to an email from someone who called themself A Leaky Nat and made all sorts of allegations that I'm still stacking up. 

Then a profile piece that was in the Spinoff in September last year resurfaced. In it there was a picture of Todd standing in front of his office cabinet with a Make America Great Again hat. 

For a piece of context, the MAGA hat has become a symbol of the worst of Trump. The white supremacy, the racism, the hatred, the bigotry. I am not for one second suggesting that Todd necessarily believes those things. But a lot of people with those hateful characteristics *do* believe that the hat represents that. And a lot of minority groups who are on the receiving end of that hatred and bigotry also believe that hat symbolises those things.

So yes, Todd might have a Hillary Rodham Clinton pin as well as a MAGA hat, but a Clinton pin doesn't strike fear into blacks, hispanics, Jews, LGBQT+ and other minority groups. 

The Herald's Damien Venuto put it pretty well in this piece. 

The most charitable interpretation of Muller having the hat on display is that he's naive. Which is still not a great situation.

In this video with TVNZ reporter Kristin Hall, Muller not only says that the MAGA hat will be moving to the Leader's office (the move would have been a great opportunity to biff it out), but that the hat and the pins will both be on display. He invites Kristin to come and "test" that they'll be on display. 

Muller may not be a racist, but racists sure do love that hat. And they'll know that the leader of the National Party has a MAGA hat.

Muller was forced to defend the hat on the Nation on Newshub too. That hat is defining him. And his response has been weak.

He said a few things in the Newshub interview.

He was asked about the problem with US politics and how partisan and broken it has become. He said that "both sides" were to blame for that. Comments that are dangerously reminiscient of Donald Trump's "fine people on both sides" comments after the white supremacy marches in Charlottesville that ended in Heather Hyer being murdered by a white supremacist.

And most incredulously to me, Muller said that while he voted against abortion and euthanasia , he wouldn't seek to impose his belief on others. 

Mate, you're a politician. Your vote literally imposes your beliefs on us.

And I'm sorry but abortion is a make or break for me. By allowing his Catholic beliefs to override the rights of women to have agency over their own bodies Muller makes himself just a friendlier version of Simon.

Immediately following Muller's first speech, I said in a tweet that it was Sheareresque, and the clumsy responses to relatively straight-forward questions since then suggest that this is exactly who National has found: their very own David Shearer.

Against one of the most popular and inspirational PMs we've had in a long time, it's gonna be a hard road.