Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was lampooned after a video of him accidentally tackling a boy in the midst of a friendly soccer game on Wednesday went viral.
The widely criticized cabinet leader was on the campaign trail for Australia's federal election, but his effort to curry votes in his favor earned him plenty of ridicule instead.
Morrison was participating in an under-8s game during his visit to northern Tasmania's Devonport Strikers soccer club to promote his multimillion-dollar upgrade to the club’s facilities, according to the Huffington Post.
As TV cameras looked on, Morrison kicked around with the boys and inadvertently toppled over young player Luca Fauvette.
The PM just accidentally bowled over a kid while playing soccer in Tassie. @9NewsAUSpic.twitter.com/WhUAZHWpr9— Eliza Edwards (@Eliza Edwards) 1652857447
The accidental toppling elicited "oohs" and "ahhs" from the crowd.
Though some people were skeptical of Morrison's intentions.
pic.twitter.com/byJ805GRJ0— Marvel Presents Sal\u00f2 (@Marvel Presents Sal\u00f2) 1652860363
Meanwhile, the internet roasted the Prime Minister, big time.
pic.twitter.com/6P407BxtKP— arthur norman (@arthur norman) 1652873886
Scott Morrison is now a Shooting Stars meme. I will never apologise for thesepic.twitter.com/f0bLtXPCSb— Ethan (@Ethan) 1652870448
Not surprising he doesn't understand soccer. Right on par with his ability to do his job.— Marina #BTPM \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f (@Marina #BTPM \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f) 1652881863
Fauvette was reportedly not injured and resumed the game with a smile after the clumsy collision with Morrison.
Morrison later joked about the incident while addressing kids and parents inside the club's locker rooms.
“Where’s Luca? He’s probably gone off to hospital!” he quipped.
He added that he looked forward to “coming back on another occasion.”
“I think that when that grandstand comes down, I hear it might need a bit of a bulldozer to knock it down, so I might be able to help with that," he added, invoking his self-referential "bulldozer" nickname.
pic.twitter.com/iwujKvink6— Parzival PIMO (@Parzival PIMO) 1652908752
Others were more concerned about the Fauvette after being barreled over on the playing field.
Is the kid ok?\n\nI don't like the angle of his right leg \n\nWhat tf was Morrison thinking??— \ud83d\udd6f Susan Smith \ud83d\udd6f (@\ud83d\udd6f Susan Smith \ud83d\udd6f) 1652861763
WTAF? As a primary school teacher, I'd probably be suspended if I did that! He's a big heavy man. That is dangerous. He's from another planet.— Kate Stanner (@Kate Stanner) 1652862890
He did say he was a bull dozer..FFS..did anyone check on the child? Having a 100KG lump land on you cannot be fun.— Su Dharmapala (@Su Dharmapala) 1652858057
Physically Morrison and the small boy are worlds apart, but mentally and intellectually they are very close together, the only difference is the boy was taught at an early age not to be a bully, Scott wasn't so lucky— david wilkes (@david wilkes) 1652875432
Looks like a ACL or PCL at best for the young fella. The right knee/ankle is stuck under the 110kg beast. I wonder who pays for 12months rehab— Ben drever (@Ben drever) 1652858701
Adult 110kg vs 20kg kid?\n\nDoes he have no concept of what to do?— One blue dot is all we got \ud83c\udf0f RIP Marley \ud83d\udc36\u2764\ufe0f\ud83d\udc94 (@One blue dot is all we got \ud83c\udf0f RIP Marley \ud83d\udc36\u2764\ufe0f\ud83d\udc94) 1652866596
That poor little boy. Disinfect him.— jane louise (@jane louise) 1652863130
Morrison. Anything to win.— Antony Mann (@Antony Mann) 1652859087
Australians have long criticized their Prime Minister for his handling of multiple crises, including for his government's poor response to the 2022 Easter Australian floods, and for his failure to adequately address climate change in the country.
In 2019, He was lambasted after leaving on an unannounced Hawaiin vacation with his family during the 2019-20 bushfire disaster.
Morrison was also panned for his mishandling of the COVID-19 vaccination rollout in which only 600,000 doses were administered after he initially promised the federal government would vaccinate 4 million people within two months.
Last week, Morrison admitted after trailing in the polls, “I can be a bit of a bulldozer when it comes to issues” and suggested he would change “gears.”
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