Australian Prime Minister's Campaign Event Goes Wrong When He Accidentally Flattens a Child

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison accidentally knocked down a child Wednesday afternoon during a campaign event at the Devonport City Soccer Club in Tasmania. Doing so, he lived up to his nickname “bulldozer.”

Morrison had given himself the name during the campaign trail, when he acknowledged that he could have demonstrated more empathy in the past, saying, that he could be a “bit of a bulldozer” at times, The Guardian reported.

The premier was visiting the home of the Devonport City Strikers in Braddon when he was invited to join a training match for children under eight, The Guardian reported. Braddon is a marginal constituency Morrison’s Liberal Party holds.

Videos circulating on social media showed Morisson walking about the field, trying to join in the game. Soon, he began to become more involved, performing a successful tackle on one boy.

But just as the 54-year-old politician began to get more active, he lost his balance and fell toward Luca Fauvette, one of the players nearby.

“A bit of rugby tackle,” Morrison was heard saying in a video of the incident after knocking Fauvette over and patting him on the back.

Fauvette quickly got up and returned Morrison’s high-five when the premier asked him if he was “all good.” He “jumped up with a big smile and kept playing,” Fauvette’s coach Keegan Smith told The Guardian.

Later in jest, Morrison would ask, “Where’s Luca? Please tell me he hasn’t gone off to the hospital.”