The Prime Minister was questioned about security and prison services in Samoa in light of the case where an Australian tourist was raped by a prison escapee last year.
Social media has been flooded with comments of the PM being unprofessional in his responses.
PM Tuilaepa says he agreed to the interview with 60 minutes as part of his duties, as a leader.
“A leader who does not face problems head on, is no leader at all. It’s easy to just ignore and not say anything, but you can’t just take the good and ignore the bad,” he said in a media conference.