MP slammed for playing Pokémon at defence hearing

The meeting of parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee was broadcast live, and many viewers noticed that Grande’s attention seemed to be more focused on the Pokémon Go game on her phone than on issues of national security. 

 

During a break from the hearing, Grande defended her action to newspaper VG. 

 

“I’m not doing it anything longer since some were offended. But some of us have heads that listen better when we are also doing brain dead [activities]. We aren’t all the same,” she said via SMS. 

 

The Liberal leader brushed off the media attention that her Pokémon playing received. 

 

“There were more sensational things to come out of the hearing on Norwegian defence than this,” she said. 

 

A poll on VG’s report about Grande’s Pokémon hunt found that a full 83 percent of readers found it “disrespectful and unacceptable”.

 

But perhaps Grande can take solace in the fact that Norway’s top political leader, PM Erna Solberg, is also a certified Pokemon aficionado who recently spent part of an official visit to Slovakia playing the game. 

 

Note: Due to an unfortunate typo, the headline on this article originally said 'PM' rather than 'MP'. We regret the error.