Jetten apologises for call to punch abusers “hard in the face”

Prime minister Rob Jetten has apologised for saying people who attack women and minorities deserved to be “punched in the face” during a party conference appearance at the weekend.

Jetten said he regretted his “spontaneous reaction” to a question from the conference floor about attacks on women, gays and minorities.

“We won’t let those guys win. We’re going to punch them hard in the face,” he replied, accompanying the last words with a punching gesture.

The question came up during a question and answer session following Jetten’s speech to the 60th anniversary conference of his D66 party.

“I didn’t mean it literally, I’m just really passionate about equal rights and that’s what I tried to convey,” he said in parliament on Tuesday. “I will try to avoid that kind of slip of the tongue in future.”

“Speechless”

Opposition MPs tabled questions about Jetten‘s choice of words. Mona Keijzer, an independent MP who split from the farmers’ party BBB, said she was “speechless”.

Marianne van den Anker, ombudsman in Rotterdam, also criticised Jetten’s choice of words as “unworthy of the prime minister”.

“I think the interviewer should have stepped in,” she told breakfast TV show WNL. “This is promoting violence.”

“We gaan ze vol op hun bek slaan”, zei premier Rob Jetten over mensen die lhbti’ers, vrouwen en minderheden aanvallen. “Premier onwaardig. Dit roept op tot geweld”, oordeelt ombudsman Marianne van den Anker. “Hij krijgt veel te maken met homohaat. Ik denk dat we hier de persoon… pic.twitter.com/Dv3JKs5iLR

— WNL Vandaag (@WNLVandaag) September 28, 2026