July 7, 2023
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil has deleted a tweet in which she slammed Donald Trump Jr as a “big baby” after he blamed visa issues for the postponement of his speaking tour.
Ms O’Neil, who on Thursday took to Twitter to clarify that his visa had not been cancelled,did not hold back in her scathing attack on the former US president’s son, saying he was a “sore loser”.
“ D o n a l d Trump Jr is a bit of a sore loser. His dad lost an election fair and square – but he says it was stolen,” she wrote.
“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.”
The remarks, which were deleted after barely an hour, sparked a backlash from opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson.
Senator Paterson said it was good to see the woke, “childish tweets” deleted because Mr Trump could reclaim the presidency in less than 18 months and they could affect the AUKUS deal.
“There are no shortage of serious national security challenges facing our country – you would think that would be the priority of the Minister for Home Affairs and Cyber Security,” he said.“Instead, the minister seems more focused on sending and then deleting juvenile tweets about a candidate for president in our closest ally. The minister should get back to her day job of protecting Australia from national security threats.”
The saga began on Wednesday when conservative organisation Turning Point announced Mr Trump Jr’s speaking events in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane next week were being postponed.
The group initially claimed it was due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
