Born and raised in the eastern Bay of Plenty, Waititi traces his lineage to many iwi but has firm links to Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and Ngāti Porou.

An advocate of progressive political policies,[3] Waititi is a fluent Māori speaker, and is also an iwi leader, Ringatū minister, and kapa haka exponent.

[6] He spent his first 12 years living in Whangaparāoa, in the eastern Bay of Plenty near Cape Runaway, and was schooled under the guidance of his kaumātua (elders) and his hapū, Te Whānau a Kauaetangohia.

[21] At a special general meeting of the party on 28 October 2020, Waititi was confirmed as the male co-leader, replacing his father-in-law, John Tamihere.

[22] Before being sworn in to the 53rd parliament, Waititi performed a waerea to protest being required to pledge allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II without reference to the Treaty of Waitangi.

[26][27] On 9 February, Waititi was ejected from Parliamentary proceedings by Speaker Mallard for refusing to wear a necktie in line with Parliament's business attire dress core.

When Waititi attempted to ask Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis a supplementary question, Mallard denied him permission to speak since he was not wearing a tie.

[28][29] The following day, a Standing Orders meeting accepted a Māori Party submission proposing the elimination of neckties from Parliament's business attire.

[30] On 12 May, Waititi was ejected from parliamentary proceedings following a heated argument with the opposition National Party leader Judith Collins about the proposed creation of a Māori Health Authority.

In the past two weeks, National had alleged the Labour Government was promoting a "separatist agenda" through the Māori Health Authority and other policies seeking to fulfil partnership responsibilities under the Treaty of Waitangi.

Waititi further stated after a week of avoiding commenting on republicanism that New Zealand "must acknowledge the brutal genocidal and ongoing impact of colonialism, of the imperial project that was overseen by the House of Windsor and its forebears".

[34][35] In May 2023, Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer were ordered to leave Parliament by Speaker Adrian Rurawhe after they staged a haka (dance) to welcome former Labour MP Meka Whaitiri.

[36][37] In mid July 2023, Waititi joked about poisoning ACT Party leader David Seymour during Te Pati Māori's annual conference.

When challenged by Tame, he said that Te Pāti Māori was "trying to empower people that are climbing out from the bottom of the bonnet of colonial violence for the last 193 years" by encouraging pride in their heritage.

[47] In mid-December 2023, Waititi retained his position as Te Pāti Māori co-leader and joined Parliament's finance & expenditure select committee.

During the Bill's first reading in August 2022, he claimed that conversion therapy was based on European colonial ideas about gender and sexuality that were alien to Māori people.

[57] In a Facebook post on 21 March 2023, he stated that New Zealand should be the "Switzerland of the South Pacific", saying (in reference to the conflict) that Māori should not fight "other indigenous peoples on their whenua.