The AM Show host Mark Richardson says he was "misrepresented" after a controversial debate with Jacinda Ardern over women in the workplace last year.
Richardson said women should have to tell their employers about whether they planned to have children, which Ms Ardern said was "totally unacceptable in 2017".
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The debate made headlines around the world, and Richardson says the fallout from his comments impacted his children at school.
"They came home from school and they were in tears because everyone hates their dad and I got a little put out by that," he told Stuff.
"I just felt that I was totally and utterly misrepresented."
He said it was a discussion between the two rather than a spat, telling Stuff: "After the cameras stopped rolling, she just got up and said, 'Great debate. We'll see you next week'."
Richardson says he doesn't regret anything he's said on television, because he hasn't said anything that has harmed anyone.
"I'm just some old white guy sounding off," he said.
Politically he said he tends to side with the National Party which he felt was "probably not on trend", but part of his job was to express his views.
Newshub.
