Now that Australia and China are beefing over Twitter, other countries appear to be keen on getting involved. New Zealand vouched for Australia, and now the US has too, but in the cringiest way possible.
In the geopolitical equivalent of “how do you do, fellow kids?” the White House National Security Council decided to make its choice of wine about China.
“Australian wine will be featured at a White House holiday reception this week. Pity vino lovers in China who, due to Beijing’s coercive tariffs on Aussie vintners, will miss out,” the body wrote on Twitter with the hashtag #AussieAussieAussieOiOiOi!
Australian wine will be featured at a White House holiday reception this week. Pity vino lovers in China who, due to Beijing’s coercive tariffs on Aussie vintners, will miss out. #AussieAussieAussieOiOiOi!
— NSC 45 Archived (@WHNSC45) December 1, 2020
Cringey tweets aside, the situation is still pretty dire for Aussie wine producers.
Amid an escalating trade war, China last month suspended imports of wine from Australia.
Then came the tweet from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, while weird and perhaps even hypocritical, still called out alleged Australian war crimes in Afghanistan, which are undeniably fucked.
It was the confluence of these two dramas which the White House National Security Council saw as the ideal opportunity to jump in and stir cringey shit.
Now Aussies and Americans alike are roasting this hot mess of tweet.
My condolences to the poor White House staff who are about to get hammered on Yellowtail https://t.co/DetKxi3YUE
— Tim @stripes@mstdn.io (@burgotastic) December 1, 2020
jacobs creek paired with big macs…. a beautiful sign of unity between our two great superpowers https://t.co/xGT1PBw0vL
— audrocur.bsky.social (@audrocur) December 1, 2020
Others had some theories as to how the tweet even came about in the first place.
Following the US into every war has finally paid off. https://t.co/SA3YnBpUPZ
— Matt Bevan (@MatthewBevan) December 1, 2020
The official National Security Council twitter account tweeted this.
I really need the eventual expose on exactly who runs every administration account. https://t.co/LOdnEkPDeP
— rabia O’chaudry (@rabiasquared) December 1, 2020
Nice of them to let the National Sommelier Council man the account for the day https://t.co/a42wPvfENa
— Ben Wieder (@benbwieder) December 1, 2020
Meanwhile, many on both sides of the Pacific were simply stunned.
What is even going on here https://t.co/uHqOAq6m8y
— Gavin Coote (@GavinCoote) December 1, 2020
Very normal NSC tweet. https://t.co/jYGzn2QwCt
— Kate Brannen (@K8brannen) December 1, 2020
And who could forget that the US is getting absolutely battered by the coronavirus pandemic and that hosting this kind of event in the first place seems a little… umm.. COVID-unsafe. In other words: not the kind of thing you’d want to boast about right now.
Just remember, not too long ago there were more positive cases within the White House than there were in all of Australia.
Hey @WHNSC , I love the support for Australian wine, but should you be hosting holiday receptions right now? Have you seen our COVID numbers for this month? 4 million. I’m hosting my work party holiday party on Zoom (and sending people things to drink). https://t.co/4HC3lBFnJ5 https://t.co/xe5ZC6A4oh
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) December 1, 2020
It’s a shame we can’t export our wine to China at the moment, but it’s also a shame that it’s been used as the butt of a lame joke in a Twitter feud, too.
