Swedish ‘whore video’ politician makes an apology

Delmon Haffo made a public apology in the Dagens Nyheter newspaper, saying that he had “totally lost his mind”. 

 

Haffo was fired from his job as digital communicator for the Moderate party hours after he laid into Social Service Minister Annika Strandhäll on camera, without realising that the entire video was being streamed live on YouTube. 

 

“Go to hell, you whore!” he exclaimed, in response to Strandhäll’s joke on Twitter that men should lose their voting rights after the election of property mogul Donald Trump as US President.  

 

“There is nothing that can excuse what has happened and I find no words,” Haffo told DN. “But I take responsibility for it and just want to apologise.” 

 

“I want to address myself directly to Annika Strandhäll, her family and all who took offence and say, ‘please forgive me for what has happened’.” 

 

In the video, Haffo also states that Victor Harju, the press spokesperson at the social ministry, “is a whore too”. Laughter is then heard from around the room.

 

Shortly after the YouTube video became news, Anna Kinberg Batra, the leader of the Moderate Party, condemned the comments.

 

“It is completely unacceptable,” she said. “It is not funny. This sort of thing should not happen.” The Moderate Party’s party secretary Tomas Tobé announced a few hours later that Haffo had been fired.

 

The interview with DN on Sunday was the first time Haffo had broken cover since the scandal broke.