The New York Times' editorial board praised Jacinda Ardern in an opinion piece.
The New York Times' editorial board has declared that "America Deserves a Leader as Good as Jacinda Ardern" in an op-ed applauding the New Zealand Prime Minister's response to a recent mass shooting at mosques which killed 50 people.
The column points to her swift promise of and follow through with gun control, noting: "On Thursday, Ms. Ardern announced a ban on all military-style semiautomatic and automatic weapons, parts that can be used to turn other rifles into such weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines."
Ardern also called out the role of social media, visited the victims' families, spoke out against any tolerance for racism, and has refused to say the accused gunman's name, saying: "He may have sought notoriety, but we in New Zealand will give him nothing. Not even his name."
The Atlantic has issued its own praise of Ardern, suggesting that she has "taken on the role of national healer."
And while the writer acknowledges the difficulty of enacting such tough gun laws in the U.S., Ardern's emphasis on unity right after the shooting was called "a powerful message that resonates nearly a week after the worst massacre in the country's modern history."
"Many of those affected will be members of our migrant communities—New Zealand is their home—they are us," Ardern stated in a tweet.