'Suppository' Gaffe Makes Politician The Butt Of Jokes

NPR | By Mark Memmott

Published August 12, 2013 at 12:48 PM EDT

Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.

(Click here to avoid sophomoric humor.)

We've posted some corrections over the years, as Two-Way readers know, so we do have sympathy for Australia's "leader of the opposition" — Tony Abbott, the Liberal Party standard bearer who might be his country's next prime minister.

But we can't resist this video of Abbott on Monday (local time) saying that current Prime Minister Kevin Rudd shouldn't be the "suppository of all wisdom."

Ouch.

It remains to be seen whether he can put this all behind him.

The gaffe "left his colleagues squirming and reporters giggling," The Telegraph reports. It also led to much tweeting — #suppository.

Mark Memmott

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.

See stories by Mark Memmott

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