Australia’s home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, has called Donald Trump Jr “a big baby” after his tour of the country was postponed.
Trump Jr’s promoter blamed “cancel culture”, even though he was granted a visa to travel to Australia.
He was scheduled to speak in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, with the first of the events to be held on Sunday 9 July.
On Wednesday, Trump Jr’s promoter, Turning Point Australia, said in a Facebook post that “due to unforeseen circumstances” his appearances in the country would be postponed.
Turning Point Australia wrote: “It seems America isn’t the only country that makes it difficult for the Trumps. Hold on to your tickets, this is a short delay nothing more #CancelCulture.”
In a separate statement, the promoter said it had been forced to postpone the tour due to a visa delay.
“The visa, which has now been issued, was only received late afternoon of Wednesday 5 July, only 24 hours before Donald Trump Jr was set to board a flight to Sydney.”
Guardian Australian understands Trump Jr applied for a visa two weeks ago and the turnaround time is normally a fortnight.
The Australian immigration department would not comment on the matter on Wednesday but on Thursday O’Neil took to Twitter.
“Geez, Donald Trump Jr is a bit of a sore loser. His dad lost an election fair and square – but he says it was stolen. Now he’s trying to blame the Australian government for his poor ticket sales and cancelled tour,” the Labor minister wrote.
“Donald Trump Jr has been given a visa to come to Australia. He didn’t get cancelled. He’s just a big baby, who isn’t very popular.”
Turning Point Australia said 8,000 tickets had already been sold across the three states, with all VIP tickets – priced as high as $2,500 – selling out in the first week of the tour announcement.
“Ticket holders are urged to hold on to their tickets, with details of the rescheduled date to be confirmed in the coming days,” a post on the company’s website said.
A spokesperson said on Thursday: “Turning Point Australia is not going to dignify the minister’s tweets with a comment. Suffice to say she is entitled to her opinion and freedom of speech no matter how idiotic.”
Donald Trump Jr was approached for comment.
