Tech

Trump Jr.’s Australia trip delayed after online petition to block him from visiting went viral

Trump Jr.’s visa was reportedly approved just four days before the tour was set to start.

Photo of Katherine Huggins

Katherine Huggins

Donald Trump Jr. speaking at CPAC Washington, DC conference at Gaylord National Harbor Resort Convention March 3, 2023 in front of purple red white and blue background

Donald Trump Jr.’s three-day speaking tour on cancel culture in Australia has been delayed due to “unforeseen circumstances,” the organizer announced on Wednesday. The tour had been set to begin on Sunday.

Featured Video

The last-minute postponement comes as a Change.org petition seeking to ban the former president’s eldest son from Australia garnered more than 22,000 signatures.

Similarly, some commentators called for Trump Jr.’s visa application to be denied on character grounds.

“Trump is an anti-democrat who encouraged the overturning of an election,” wrote one Australian columnist. “He is a conspiracy theorist who spread misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. And he leads an organization found guilty of tax fraud and document falsification.”

Advertisement

Calls for his visa to be denied were ultimately unsuccessful—with the Sydney Morning Herald reporting that Trump Jr. was granted a visa Wednesday morning. But their push may have been successful in delaying the visa and blocking the speaking tour from going on as planned.

Turning Point Australia, the conservative group organizing the tour, said in a Facebook post Wednesday that the event had been postponed “due to unforeseen circumstances.” The post also read: “It seems America isn’t the only country that makes it difficult for the Trumps…”

While Turning Point Australia did not elaborate, it hinted that the postponement may have stemmed from visa issues.

Advertisement

The group shared a video from political commentator Rukshan Fernando who claimed the Australian government “slow-walked” Trump Jr.’s visa application.

“Apparently the visa application was put through in May and it should only take about 21 days for such a decision to be made by the Australian government, particularly for a high-profile person such as Don Trump Jr.,” Fernando said.

He added that even with an approved visa, “they’ve already made it so difficult for the Australians, the many Australians, that wanted to go to this show and participate in this event and listen to Don Trump Jr. speak, but we’re living in a country where these governments, these leftwing lunatics are running rampant over our access to information.”

Turning Point Australia did not explicitly confirm that visa issues caused the postponement, but reshared Fernando’s video and thanked him for his coverage.

Advertisement
web_crawlr
We crawl the web so you don’t have to.
Sign up for the Daily Dot newsletter to get the best and worst of the internet in your inbox every day.
Sign up now for free
 
The Daily Dot