Canberra’s ambassador to the US and former Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has deleted all of his social media posts and articles on his website criticizing Donald Trump following the Republican’s victory in the US presidential election this week.
Previously, Rudd described Trump as “the most destructive president in history” and a “traitor of the West,” and accused him of “dragging America and democracy through the mud.”
However, after Trump’s victory, Rudd appeared to change his tune and congratulated the president-elect on his win in a post on X, writing: “Australians and Americans are long-standing friends, partners and allies,” and that “Australia looks forward to working closely with President Trump and his Administration on the challenges and opportunities that our two great democracies and the wider world will face in the years ahead.”
In addition to his post, Rudd’s office released a statement announcing that he has scrubbed his past criticisms of Trump “out of respect for the office of the President of the United States.” His office explained that these comments were made while Rudd served as the head of an independent US-based think tank and made regular commentaries on American politics.
The statement added that Rudd’s disparaging statements about Trump were deleted in order to “eliminate the possibility of such comments being misconstrued as reflecting his positions as Ambassador and, by extension, the views of the Australian Government.” It was also noted that “Rudd looks forward to working with President Trump and his team to continue strengthening the US-Australia alliance.”
Earlier this year, Trump responded to some of Rudd’s comments, telling the UK’s Nigel Farage he had heard that the Australian ambassador was “a little bit nasty” and “not the brightest bulb.”
“I don’t know much about him. If he’s at all hostile, he will not be there long,” Trump warned.
Meanwhile, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who previously called Trump a “woman-hating, neo-Nazi sympathizing sociopath,” has also seemingly changed his tune, congratulating the president-elect on his victory and stating that the British government looks forward to working with him.