2 weeks Ago By Duncan Evans
Former prime minister and current ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd has scrambled to scrub his record of highly disparaging remarks about returning American President Donald Trump following Wednesday’s shock US election romp. Mr Rudd, who was appointed ambassador to the world’s most powerful democracy in March 2023, has penned sharp broadsides against the controversial Republican president, including a tweet from 2020 in which he labelled Mr Trump “the most destructive president in history”. Mr Rudd rushed to delete his posts following Wednesday’s shock count in which Mr Trump demolished his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris in both the electoral college and popular vote.
The scrub was confirmed in a statement from Mr Rudd’s office on Thursday. “In his previous role as the head of an independent US-based think tank, Mr Rudd was a regular commentator on American politics,” the statement reads. “Out of respect for the office of president of the United States, and following the election of President Trump, Ambassador Rudd has now removed these past commentaries from his personal website and social media channels.
“This has been done to eliminate the possibility of such comments being misconstrued as reflecting his positions as ambassador and, by extension, the views of the Australian government. “Ambassador Rudd looks forward to working with President Trump and his team to continue strengthening the US-Australia alliance.” President Trump, meanwhile, has referred to Mr Rudd as “nasty” and “not the brightest bulb”.
Mr Rudd leads the management of the vital US-Australia relationship from his residency in Washington DC. In a doorstop from Thursday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Mr Rudd was the best person to represent Australian in Washington despite the remarks. “What I point you to is his track record,” she said.
“We were really pleased to see the delivery of legislation for the Congress to deliver AUKUS. “Really pleased to see some of the changes that have been delivered, with bipartisan support, Republican support, for AUKUS. “Kevin’s worked very hard with the rest of the team at the embassy to deliver that.
“I was pleased to meet with Mike Pompeo and other senior Republicans when I was last in the United States and we made it very clear the priority we give to AUKUS and we’re pleased that it’s shared.” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appointed Mr Rudd to the crucial diplomatic post even as Mr Trump campaigned for a second term in the White House. Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said he hoped Mr Rudd could continue to succeed in his role but warned the former prime minister was not “bigger than Australia’s interests”.
“Anthony Albanese initially said he wasn’t appointing Kevin Rudd to be ambassador,” he said on Thursday. “He chose to take the risk knowing all that had been said before to make that appointment, even though Donald Trump was already a candidate for the presidency at that stage. “We want to see obviously, that success, as I said, but the job is not bigger than Australia’s interests .
.. Kevin Rudd is not bigger than Australia’s interests, nor is Anthony Albanese’s personal commitment to Kevin Rudd.
“And so they will have to make a clear-eyed assessment as they work through coming months.”.
