When President Trump left the United States for his twelve-day trip to Asia, many of his aides were worried about how he would comport himself on the journey, concerned that the stress of travel might put him in a cranky or sour mood.
While original coverage appeared to show that the President behaved himself, a new report from the United Kingdom’s Telegraph that the President thought it appropriate to mock the newly elected Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern.
At the East Asia Summit Gala, Trump reportedly patted the person sitting next to him on the shoulder and said: “this lady caused a lot of upset in her country.”
Ardern immediately fired back: “You know, no one marched when I was elected!”
Ardern is an inspiring progressive whose pragmatic and compassionate views are the complete opposite of the crude, half-formed expressions of greed and tribalism that pass for political opinions from President Trump.
While New Zealand’s conservative right-wing was not pleased to see her win the recent election, the response was nothing compared to the hundreds of thousands of people who marched in protest of racist oligarch Donald Trump’s narrow electoral college victory.
It is disappointing yet sadly unsurprising to hear that President Trump was so rude to the new leader of one of our close allies.
