Te Pati Māori's co-leaders are silent during widespread criticism of one of their MPs social media posts, labelled 'racist' by some.

Tākuta Ferris posted a video, saying it's unacceptable for other ethnicities to campaign to take a Maori seat from Maori.

The party apologised in the past for a previous social media post with a similar sentiment.

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper has labelled these comments 'painful' and 'infuriating'.

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