'I don't give any credibility' to New Zealand shooter citing Trump, ambassador says

The U.S. ambassador to New Zealand, Scott Brown, said Sunday he attached no importance to the accused perpetrator of a mass shooting at two mosques Friday citing President Donald Trump as a symbol of white identity.

"I don't give ... any credibility whatsoever to the ramblings of somebody who is rotten to the core and, clearly, is an extremist of the worst kind, who could walk into two mosques and, without any care whatsoever, kill people," Brown told CNN's "State of the Union." "I don't give any credibility to it."

"I'm not going to give him the time of day. I hope, as quickly as possible, they can find a way to get this guy convicted and lock him up and throw away the key," Brown said. "That's how I feel. And I think a lot of New Zealanders feel the same way."

The accused shooter in the attack that killed 50 people in Christchurch, 28-year-old Australian Brenton Tarrant, praised Trump as a symbol of white identity in a lengthy, rambling manifesto.

Trump offered his condolences on the shooting via Twitter on Friday.

But the same day, Trump said he doesn't see white nationalism as a rising worldwide threat, calling it "a small group of people that have very, very serious problems, I guess."

Pressed by anchor Jake Tapper about whether white nationalism is indeed on the rise, Brown, a former Republican senator from Massachusetts, said, "I haven't seen it here" in New Zealand.

"I have been here for two — almost two years. I haven't seen it here," Brown said. "That's why it's a little bit numbing. I am trying to come up with words."

Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine