This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

An Irish minister has claimed controversial comments by the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, expressing sympathy with Donald Trump’s attacks on the media have been taken out of context.

There have been calls for Varadkar to clarify the comments he reportedly made at an event in New York.

It was reported by the Times and Irish Times that when Varadkar was asked about the US president’s attacks on the media, he said it was one of the few issues he could sympathise with Trump about and that the media was not interested in the truth but in the story.

The Irish housing minister, Eoghan Murphy, said his comments had been taken out of context.

“Myself and the taoiseach speak about the importance of being available to speak to the media,” he said. “That’s a cornerstone for local democracy.”

The finance minister, Paschal Donohoe, said he “unreservedly supports the operation and function of the media” within local democracy.

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Speaking at an event in Dublin on Wednesday, Donohoe said: “It’s an absolutely essential element in how our country conducts itself. It’s essential that we have a free and independent media that can report on what is happening in our country and scrutinise and evaluate and hold politicians to account.

“I know these are the views of the taoiseach, too. I would be very against some of the darker tones that we have seen develop in other countries at the moment.”

Varadkar is expected to address the matter at the Dáil later on Wednesday.

He was in the US to launch Ireland’s bid for a seat at the United Nations security council.

The Sinn Féin leader, Mary Lou McDonald, said his remarks required an explanation. She said: “The comments were very odd. It seems that when the taoiseach goes to America he seems to lose the run of himself.

“They were very serious blanket criticisms of the media. It’s very serious that the head of government would launch such an attack in such an indiscriminate way.”