Leo Varadkar addresses Mean Girls quote
Leo Varadkar has defended his decision to use a Mean Girls quote in his latest speech.
He addressed the issue on RTÉ’s Prime Time last night.
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Prime Time host, David McCullagh quizzed Varadkar on the matter.
He asked, "At a time when people are looking to you as Taoiseach for leadership, do you really think it's appropriate to be using a speech to quote teen movies as an in-joke with an actor?"
"I think any quote is appropriate if it’s appropriate in its context, whether it was written in a movie or by a poet," he replied.
Leo Varadkar ends lockdown with a quote from Mean Girls: “That limit does not exist.”
After his plagiarism of Lord of the Rings, actor @SeanAstin (AKA Samwise Gamgee) dared him to do Mean Girls next. pic.twitter.com/Y3RwNCCdFa
— Kevin Doyle (@KevDoyle_Indo) June 19, 2020
"So the quote, 'the limit does not exist,' which I believe is from the movie Mean Girls, that was appropriate for use?" McCullagh asked.
Varadkar replied, "Yeah, in the context."
He explained further, "It was the context of our ambitions as a country and I know that some people may be snobbish about those things, that a quote from a movie is different to a quote from a poet or a great author like yourself, but I don’t see it that way."
"I think any quote is appropriate if it's appropriate in its context" Taoiseach Leo Varadkar discusses the use of film quotes in his Covid-19 speeches#RTEPT | @mcculld | @LeoVaradkar | #Covid19 pic.twitter.com/KiAzVK1Gs1
— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) June 23, 2020
What happened?
Varadkar has been slipping famous song lyrics and movie quotes into his public speeches.
His first notable reference came from Dermot Kennedy's song All My Friends.
This was followed by a quote by Samwise Gamgee in Lord Of The Rings.
Varadkar quoted the words, "So, this afternoon let me end with words of hope."
"In the end, it’s only a passing thing this shadow, even darkness must pass."
"A new day will come, and when the sun shines, it’ll shine out all the clearer," he finished.
Big ups to @LeoVaradkar for quoting (Peter Jackson's) Samwise Gamgee from Lord of the Rings.!! =D pic.twitter.com/dkPJRxH4XT
— Sean Dubss (@Sean_Dubss) June 6, 2020
Samwise actor, Sean Astin challenged him to quote Mean Girls in his next speech.
He addressed the nation, "Some have asked whether there’s a limit to what we can achieve, my answer is that limit does not exist."
Varadkar quoted, "that limit does not exist," from Lindsay Lohan's Mean Girls character Cady.
