Auckland's deputy mayor Desley Simpson has backpedalled on her comments this morning, where she called Mayor Wayne Brown "part of the problem" over the region's flood response.

In a slip of the tongue on Breakfast, Simpson was asked when the media will be able to speak with Brown.

"He was on the ground looking at the community impacts across the region. He's part of the problem."

She never retracted her words, but quickly followed up with, "and the solution, he's aware of the problem most definitely".

Since the interview, the Mayor of Auckland's Twitter account posted a tweet signed 'DS' (Desley Simpson), saying she is "devastated" by her slip-up.

The deputy mayor even went as far as to say "malicious reporting" had occurred.

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"I was trying to communicate the fact that Mayor Brown is aware of the problems and part of the solution."

It follows a string of backlash Wayne Brown has received over the past few days, with more than 20,000 people signing a petition for the mayor to resign over an unacceptable lack of leadership following the deadly flooding on Friday evening.

He has been accused of being too slow to call a state of emergency, and has since reportedly verbally attacked a New Zealand Herald reporter over the phone, sent texts that he has to "deal with media drongos over the flooding" and admitted himself that there "may have been some incorrect decisions".

Simpson said although they are hoping the worst is over, with a reprieve comes a huge clean up and the mayor would be putting out statements around that.

Although the mayor may not be available to front the media, Simpson said she was more than happy to talk to the media at any time.