In a surprising diplomatic faux pas, Australian Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil took to Twitter to launch an aggressive attack on Donald Trump Jr, son of the former U.S President Donald Trump, branding him a "sore loser" and a "big baby".
The former US President’s son was set to speak in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane from June 9 to 11. GA tickets to the speaking tour, which also featured Nigel Farage and Liberal senator Alex Antic were being sold for $89, while a backstage ticket was for $495.
Geez, Donald Trump Jr is a bit of a sore loser.His dad lost an election fair and square – but he says it was stolen. Now he’s trying to blame the Australian government for his poor ticket sales and cancelled tour.
Donald Trump Jr has been given a visa to come to Australia. He didn’t get cancelled. He’s just a big baby, who isn’t very popular. Minister Clare O'Neil
O'Neil's attack come amidst Trump Jr's abrupt cancellation of his Australian tour due to alleged visa delays, an issue he claims has been engineered by the Albanese government to suppress conservative voices.
O'Neil's comments, seen as unnecessarily combative and inappropriate, also likely reflective of her personal views against Donald Trump, have since been deleted at the direction of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's office, though not before Donald Trump Jr responded with his own verbal broadside.
Branding O'Neil a "coward" and accusing her of disseminating "fake news", Trump Jr suggested that the delay in visa processing was a deliberate move by the Labor government to stifle his views.
"If Minister Clare O'Neil isn't too much of a coward to leave her left wing safe space, I'd be happy to invite her to attend any of the events that we put on," he told Daily Mail Australia.
Donald Trump announced his campaign for a non-consecutive second presidential term on November 15, 2022.
This incident has taken on a greater significance due to the potential implications it could have on international relations. O'Neil's inflammatory remarks about a member of a potentially incoming U.S. administration have been condemned as immature and reckless. The comments have been viewed as potentially jeopardizing the critical Australia-U.S. alliance and the trilateral AUKUS agreement.
It is Donald Trump. His hallmark has always been his assertive personality and his propensity to perceive criticisms as personal affronts.
The war of words between the senior minister and his son could potentially precipitate severe diplomatic repercussions should Trump ascend to the presidency once more. The retort from Donald Trump Jr. implies that the Trump clan views O'Neil's comments with gravity and might harbor resentment against the Australian administration for what they discern as an unjust personal slight.
It’s good to see these childish tweets have now been deleted. The Minister should leave the woke tweets to Labor backbenchers and get back to focusing on the serious national security challenges facing Australia. pic.twitter.com/2k1zU94ij9
— James Paterson (@SenPaterson) July 6, 2023
Like it or not, Trump could be elected president again in less than 18 months. If that happens, I hope for the sake of the AUKUS agreement that cabinet ministers in national security portfolios are able to restrain themselves from juvenile tweets like these https://t.co/mKcjsglFYl
— James Paterson (@SenPaterson) July 6, 2023
My statement on the postponement of the @DonaldJTrumpJr tour of Australia due to a late visa. We will be back! pic.twitter.com/9jcsp2geac
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) July 6, 2023
