Auckland Mayor Phil Goff has blasted hateful Facebook users who left "disgusting" comments on a post about visiting one of the city's mosques.
On Sunday, Goff posted on his Facebook page that he had visited Ranui mosque in west Auckland on Friday evening with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the area's local MP Phil Twyford.
"We got a warm reception from the people there with wide ranging questions from the aftermath of the terrorist attack to transport initiatives in Auckland," he wrote.
"Great to see the women at the mosque inspired by the role model our Prime Minister is for them."
Photos also posted show Ardern talking with members of the congregation, who can be seen smiling.
But according to Goff,not all comments on the post were warm and supportive.
"This is the moderation I had to do today to clean up my FB page," Goff posted on Twitter on Monday with an image of the post's comments, with many hidden.
"The amount of vitriol and hate was disgusting. I thought we were better than this."
While most of the comments were hidden, one shown in the image reads: "Anybody whose own teeth don't fit in their mouth don't trust them I say".
"Bloody ridiculous. This is our country," said another.
Twitter users agreed it was sad.
"I have no answers. May need a long time to reverse these ghastly racist attitudes", said one user.
"Racism has always been ugly. It's just out in the open now."
Newshub.
