Naomi Long: Alliance leader hits back at writer who criticised her weight
'It's not those of us with big bodies but those with small minds which are the most destructive force'
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Your support makes all the difference.Naomi Long has publicly criticised Jude Collins after the media commentator made unwarranted comments about her weight.
Over the weekend, Mr Collins wrote a blog post after seeing the Northern Ireland politician on TV, in which he wrote: “Naomi’s weight problem – I’m assuming it’s a medical condition – is what hits you between the eyes when she comes on TV,” the Belfast Telegraph reported.
Mr Collins also wrote on his blog that he had “no doubt that it’s a worrying thing for her” – which prompted Ms Long, who is leader of the Northern Ireland Alliance, to respond to the commentator.
In a Facebook post, the politician began by writing: “This may be the one and only time I ever share anything written by Jude Collins, and it isn’t to praise it.”
“That my ‘weight problem’ is the first thing to hit him between the eyes when I’m on TV is evidence not of my weight, but his problem,” Ms Long wrote. “I wasn’t aware Jude was either invested enough in my health to care or medically qualified enough to comment: however, I am absolutely certain he doesn’t know me or what concerns me at all, and has no right to speculate.”
The politician, whose party holds eight seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly, then said Mr Collins’ comments were a sign of his “misogyny as well as his lack of manners” – as he has never made similar comments regarding appearance of male colleagues or opponents.
Long concluded her post reminding her followers: “It’s not those of us with big bodies but those with small minds which are the most destructive force.”
The Northern Ireland politician was joined by others on social media who called out Mr Collins for his comments, which many deemed “fat shaming”.
“Jude Collins really is a disgrace and the lowest of the low,” one person wrote on Twitter. “Nobody should be subject to comments about their weight, looks, or appearance when it comes to politics.”
The backlash prompted Mr Collins to apologise and remove his post.
In a blog post Monday, the columnist said a “multitude of people” had told him “how obnoxious” his comments were, and that after looking back at his blog post, he could “see that what I wrote could well have been hurtful to Naomi”.
Mr Collins also said he had removed the offensive paragraph and has “no hesitation in apologising to the Alliance party leader for my crassness and any hurt this may have caused her.
“I hope she will accept that apology,” he wrote.
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