'I completely disagree with him': Jacinda Ardern on Trump's racist remarks

‘I completely & utterly disagree with him’: Jacinda Ardern condemns Trump’s racist remarks

Jacinda Ardern
Jacinda Ardern has spoken out against Donald Trump’s most recent verbal attack on four congresswomen.

In a series of tweets on Sunday, the US President told four Democratic congresswomen, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib, to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came”.

Three of the four women were born in the US.

He then went on to say Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, “would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements”.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has condemned Trump’s remarks, commenting that she is proud New Zealand takes the opposite view. She also impressed the importance of a representative parliament.

“Usually I don’t get into other people’s politics, but it will be clear to most people that I completely and utterly disagree with him,” Ardern told the New Zealand radio program Morning Report. 

“I’m quite proud that in New Zealand we take the opposite view, that we take the view that our Parliament should be a representative place, it should look and feel like New Zealand, it should have a range of different cultures and ethnicities and never should a judgement be made about the origin of anyone, and their right therefore to be in Parliament as a representative.”

“We should celebrate our diversity, we do in New Zealand, I’m proud of that and so I obviously take a very different view to President Trump.”

While other world leaders, including Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison, have remained silent on the racism displayed by Trump this week, Ardern has put a spotlight on the importance of embracing diversity and condemning racism.

It’s a message Ardern has consistently championed since the horrific Christchurch attack. Her words “they are us” remain more relevant than ever.

Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter: “telling four American Congresswomen of colour to go back to your own country, is hallmark language of white supremacists”.

On Tuesday, Trump continued to defend his comments, tweeting that he doesn’t have a racist bone in his body.

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