Iceland’s parliamentary speaker explains accidental “makes me sick” comment

Þórunn Sveinbjarnardóttir, speaker of Iceland’s parliament, says a social media comment reading “makes me sick” was posted in the wrong place. She described the mistake to mbl.is as an embarrassing blunder.

The comment appeared under a post by Halla Gunnarsdóttir, chair of VR, about a busy day that ended with VR and professional associations signing an extension of their collective agreements. A screenshot of Þórunn’s comment spread online, prompting people to interpret it in different ways.

“My goodness! That was meant to go somewhere else,” Þórunn said, laughing. She explained that she had been messaging an American friend and was unsure how she had managed to post the comment in the wrong place.

Friends alerted her that something seemed wrong, she said. Þórunn added that she could only laugh about the mistake, though she found it embarrassing. She said it had reminded her not to rush, adding that the exchange had been about something entirely different.