Tame later said on Twitter ... "When a prime minister tells a story that embarrasses the US president and isn't 100% true ... It's my job to ask questions."
And he's right.
The exchange was awkward and it makes for uncomfortable viewing.
When you're pressing someone for an answer and they're tip-toeing around the question, you have to keep pushing. And that's what Tame did.
The Sydney Morning Herald is carrying the story now.
I've just had a look at the BBC too. They are as well - under the headline "New Zealand PM regrets Trump story".
In Australia and Britain, the storyline is of Ardern's regret.
Here, we're wading into Jack Tame across the various social media channels, calling him rude - among other things. He's copped a lot of abuse for, in essence, doing his job.
Commentators say he "relentlessly pestered" the prime minister.
Really? Pestered?
Would we have used that sort of language if he'd interviewed Bill English or John Key?
He was even called a school-yard bully.
He didn't pester or bully Ardern - he pressed her because she wouldn't answer the question. And so he should.
Tame did what he's employed to do: Challenge the government of the day.
The Prime Minister has since said she regretted sharing that story. And she should regret it. Our relationship with the US is so important from a trade perspective, from a defence perspective ... you name it. To jeopardise it with a throwaway comment about being mistaken for Trudeau's wife was foolish.
It was a lesson well learnt, I think.
You're not in Morrinsville now, Prime Minister.
