A Georgia teenager’s tweet about moving to Australia after President Obama was reelected has earned the girl some backlash from other Twitter users.
The 18-year-old wrote, “I’m moving to Australia, because their president is a Christian and actually supports what says.”
Australian users were quick to point out that Neel’s belief was false. The prime minister is an atheist woman named Julia Gillard, whom many pointed out as living with a man she hasn’t married.
User @mpesce wrote, “.@KristenNeel_ 1) Australia does not have a president. 2) Our prime minister is an atheist. 3) Yes, she really is.
Another user, named @post_rock0, wrote, “.KristenNeel_ our ‘president’ is a prime minister, is a woman, and is an atheist. I think you meant Antarctica. Move there.”
The tweet quickly gained more than 1,400 retweets and over 300 favorites.
Other users claimed Neel “had been the victim of trolls.” Neel quickly tried to explain that she was referring to the previous office that “actually had a moral position.”
Others have also pointed out that Neel “is not alone in not having a clue about Australia.” Mark Furler of the Fraser Coast Chronicle wrote that “many Americans know about as much about Australia as they do Austria.”
Furler also went on to say, “I remember once being asked where I was from by a waitress in a food outlet in the US. After telling her Australia, she replied: ‘How far is that drive?’”
Furler then said Neel’s lack of knowledge about Australia wasn’t her fault. “Given the level of coverage of Australian politics on US TV news,” Furler wrote, “you can forgive Kristen Neel for her tweet.”
What do you think of Kristen Neel’s tweet?
