‘Craziness’: Fresh clip spells trouble for Rudd

Freshly unearthed footage has emerged of Kevin Rudd speaking about Donald Trump in 2022 — adding even more pressure on the former PM.

Kevin Rudd has described Donald Trump’s first presidency as a “walk on the wild side” and an “episodic craziness” in newly-unearthed video that has raised fresh questions over his tenure as Australia’s ambassador to the United States.

The former Prime Minister had hit the headlines this week after footage emerged of him calling the President-elect a “village idiot”.

But in a new video recorded in June 2022 for the Asia Society, where he served as President, he dismissed Mr Trump’s first term as a period of “craziness.”

“Never take a backwards step in saying we’re allies with the United States,” he said.

“For all the American predisposition to episodic craziness... Look at Trump: how did that happen? That was a walk on the wild side for all of us.”

In another Asia Society lecture, recorded in 2018, the former PM was suggested Mr Trump was not bright.

Kevin Rudd described Donald Trump’s first presidency as a “walk on the wild side”.

“Then enter Donald Trump. Donald as we know is not a leading intellectual force,” Mr Rudd said as the audience exploded with laughter.

President-elect Mr Trump has also previously criticised Mr Rudd for his intemperate commentary branding him “nasty.”

“I don’t know much about him. I heard he was a little bit nasty,’’ Mr Trump told GB News earlier this year.

“I hear he’s not the brightest bulb, but I don’t know much about him. If he’s at all hostile, he will not be there long.”

Albo backs Kevin Rudd

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese emphatically declared Mr Rudd is still the right man to lead our diplomatic efforts in the United States this week after revelations he previously called the US President-elect a “village idiot”.

Sky News’ Sharri Markson revealed the footage on Monday night, which shows Mr Rudd speaking in a webinar with Dr Shashi Tharoor, an Indian politician and former diplomat.

“The United States, in the past four years, has been run by a village idiot,” Mr Rudd said in the unearthed footage.

“People have seen China continuing to be competent in its national statecraft and the United States increasingly incompetent in its national statecraft under Trump.”

At a press conference in Tasmania, the Prime Minister smacked down calls urging him to sack his former Labor colleague.

When asked whether Mr Rudd was the “right person” to continue as Ambassador to the US, Mr Albanese responded unequivocally: “Yes.”

Liberal leader Peter Dutton is urging the Albanese government to “read the room” after the US election and work “with and not against our most important ally”.

US President-elect Donald Trump said Mr Rudd may not last long in his job. Picture: Allison Robbert / AFP

“When we were in government we were able to negotiate with the Trump administration an exemption from tariffs that were being applied at that time,” he said.

“The onus will be on the Prime Minister to negotiate a similar outcome with the Trump administration, and that will be a question for him as to whether or not they are able to craft that.

“But I think it is obvious America has charted a different course now and the government here needs to course correct and make sure they are working with and not against our most important ally.

“The Prime Minister says that we live in the most precarious period since the Second World War, but we need to have a very strong and trusted relationship with our Five Eyes partners, including the United States.”

Trump “scared the s*** out of” Albo

Last week it was revealed that Mr Albanese, who appointed Mr Rudd to the Washington post, had previously been caught on tape saying that Mr Trump’s presidency “scared the s*** out of” him.

“We have an alliance with the US, we’ve got to deal with him, but that doesn’t mean that you’re uncritical about it,” Mr Albanese said in 2017.

“He scares the s*** out of me, and I think it’s of some concern that the leader of the free world thinks that you can conduct politics through 140 characters on Twitter overnight.”

Lara Trump’s warning

In an interview with Sky News Australia days before the election, the President-elect’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, who also serves as the co-chair of the Republican National Committee, suggested it was “hard” to keep someone in a diplomatic position who’d said “such nasty things about a person”.

“I do think it would be nice to have a person who appreciates all that Donald Trump has gone through to want to serve our country at this moment,” she said.

Originally published as ‘Craziness’: Fresh clip spells trouble for Rudd