Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern will emphatically not be accepting any criticism from President Trump, it seems.
The President recently laid into Ardern in the wake of what he called a "big surge" in virus cases in New Zealand. But the "big surge" in question is comprised of nine new cases.
So, while speaking to members of the press in the New Zealand capital of Wellington, Ardern issued a simple and to-the-point clap-back.
Ardern stated plainly that there is no comparison between the U.S. and New Zealand when it comes to the ongoing pandemic.
"Obviously, I don't think there's any comparison between New Zealand's current cluster and the tens of thousands of cases that are being seen daily in the United States."
She went on to say that New Zealand's situation does not compare to most countries, let alone the U.S.
"New Zealand's nine cases in a day does not compare to the United States' tens of thousands, and in fact does not compare to most countries in the world... Obviously it's patently wrong."
Ardern's response comes on the heels of President Trump's comments about New Zealand at a campaign rally Monday evening in Mankato, Minnesota.
"Do you see what's happening in New Zealand? They beat it, they beat it, it was like front-page news because they wanted to show me something."
"The problem is, big surge in New Zealand. You know, it's terrible, we don't want that, but this is an invisible enemy that should never have been let to come to Europe and the rest of the world by China."
New Zealand reported 12 more cases today, bringing the country's total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 1,293—a far cry from the 37,240 cases the United States reported yesterday and 5.47 million total since the pandemic began.
On Twitter, there was no shortage of respect for Ardern's clapback.
People also lauded her handling of the pandemic in general.
And there was plenty of frustration with President Trump to go around as well.
Ardern has been praised worldwide for her handling of the pandemic.
Until a family of four from Auckland tested positive last week, New Zealand went 102 consecutive days without a community transmission. The United States has had new community transmissions daily since the viral pathogen reached the USA.
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