New Zealand censures envoy who tweeted: Democrats or we die

Published March 13, 2018

New Zealand has censured its second-ranking diplomat in Washington after she sent tweets saying U.S. Democrats needed to get their act together for the next presidential election "or we will all die."

Deputy Head of Mission Caroline Beresford later deleted the tweets and made her account private. On Wednesday, New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the tweets didn't meet its code of conduct for social media, which require diplomatic staff to maintain political neutrality and take care in expressing personal opinions.

The ministry said it was taking appropriate action, but declined further comment.

Beresford sent several tweets late last week disagreeing with an opinion column on political news website "The Hill" which said a 2020 Democratic ticket with Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren could "win big."

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