Former Trump adviser says Australia is a ‘warning’ to US, after Florida governor compares nation to ‘communist China’
George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy adviser to President Donald Trump in 2016, has described Australia under Prime Minister Scott Morrison as a “warning” to the United States with its authoritarian Covid-19 policies.
“Australia is our warning,” Papadopoulos tweeted on Wednesday, just a day after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis compared Australia to “communist China” and questioned whether the US should cut relations.
During a conference in Tampa, Florida on Tuesday, DeSantis – who, excluding Trump, is the favorite Republican in polls to run for president in 2024 – criticized Australia for enforcing its Covid-19 lockdown policies with the military and refusing to let citizens leave the country.
“That’s not a free country. It’s not a free country at all. In fact, I wonder why we would still have the same diplomatic relations when they’re doing that,” DeSantis said, questioning, “Is Australia freer than China, communist China, right now? I don’t know.”
“The fact that that’s even a question tells you something has gone dramatically off the rails,” he concluded.
Despite its repeated attempts to appeal to the US through schemes such as the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal and its cutting of ties with China, the Australian government under Morrison has received heavy criticism from American conservatives over its heavy-handed treatment of Covid-19 lockdown protesters.
“Australia is absolutely a country under tyrannical rule,” conservative commentator Steven Crowder tweeted on Wednesday – the latest in a long line of criticisms from Republicans, with some even suggesting sanctions on the Australian government.
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, protests have erupted around Australia against the country’s strict lockdown restrictions.
Sydney and Melbourne – Australia’s two largest cities – have experienced some of the most chaotic protests, with Melbourne setting the world record for longest lockdown.
Several instances of police brutality have gone viral around the world as Australian law enforcement try to crack down on “unauthorized protesters.” In one incident caught on camera this month, an elderly Australian was shoved by a police officer onto the floor and then pepper sprayed as she lay on the ground. In another video, a Melbourne police officer could be seen slamming a man onto the floor, allegedly rendering him unconscious – leading to an internal investigation.
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