Transport Minister Ian Borg has denied that he swore on live television, instead alleging that Nationalist Party media had edited a clip to make it seem like he did.
A video shared widely on social media on Tuesday night shows the minister as a guest on the television show Pjazza on ONE TV, and shows him appearing to let out a swear word mid-way through what was a particularly animated answer.
Tan-NET News qed jogħġobhom ixandru clip amplifikat fuq parti ta’ diskors li kont qed nagħmel fuq il-programm...
Posted by Ian Borg on Tuesday, January 12, 2021
However, Borg said in a post on Facebook that Nationalist media had broadcasted an amplified clip of him. He said that he had not said what was being alleged and that in reality the clip showed him saying a similar sounding phrase “ħa qalanqas... anqas, anqas...”
This would essentially translate to "so not even...even...even".
He said that if the Nationalist Party wants to say that he was swearing it is their business, and added that “I will pray for you when I go to the Holy Land” – a clear dig at opposition MP Jason Azzopardi, who had gotten caught up in controversy over a trip to Israel a few months back, and who shared the clip.