Christopher Luxon says it was inappropriate for the National Party Facebook page to share a meme of Will Smith smacking Chris Rock at the Oscars on Monday.
National on Monday evening shared an image on its Facebook of Smith slapping Rock, with Smith labelled as 'Labour's Cost of Living Crisis' and Rock referred to as 'Hardworking Kiwis'.
"I wasn't aware of it at the time. I became aware of it this morning," Luxon, the party leader, said on Tuesday morning. "What I was pleased to hear was that it had been taken down within 20 minutes and we have had conversations with the relevant people and I think the lessons have been learnt."
He said he doesn't believe it was appropriate.
"We don't condone any violence at all... the good news is the team reflected upn that within 20 minutes. It went up and down without me being aware of it. That's a good sign that the team is making good judgement."
All political parties will make mistakes, Luxon said, and politicians should "front it when we see it".
"As long as people correct it, learn from it, move on, that's the important thing."
While the post was quickly deleted, it wasn't before social media users screenshotted it and shared it around their networks. One image of the meme was posted to Twitter, where it came under criticism.
"Not fit to be on social media let along govern. Gross," one person wrote.
"It just reflects the intellectual and moral vacuum that has always been an anchor to National party philosophy, it's just more obvious," said another.
"It would be so damn easy to look good right now for the Nats.. yet they stumble everytime. Imagine them habimg [sic] to make the tough decisions!" added a third.
The Australian Young Liberals made the same blunder. The group shared a similar meme to their Twitter account, suggesting that "Labor's higher taxes" would hurt "hard-working Australians".
The image has also since been deleted.
The incident between Rock and Smith at the film ceremony on Monday has shaken Hollywood and led to overwhelming criticism of Smith for his actions. The Academy has launched a formal review.
AM host Melissa Chan-Green on Tuesday morning said it reflected "toxic masculinity".
