National leader Judith Collins says Donald Trump has "a real opportunity" to show "what a great democracy America is" following the US President's refusal to accept defeat to Joe Biden.
Trump has refused to acknowledge Biden as President-elect after the Democrat took out the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania over the weekend, securing its 20 Electoral College votes to surpass the 270 needed to win the presidency.
Trump, who has won 214 Electoral College votes compared to Biden's 290, has made repeated, unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud, claiming the election was rigged against him and "stolen" by his Democratic rivals.
"Pennsylvania prevented us from watching much of the Ballot count. Unthinkable and illegal in this country," Trump tweeted on Tuesday, which has been flagged by Twitter as a "disputed" claim.
Trump's campaign is pursuing legal action in key battleground states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Nevada - states secured by Biden - as well as in the Republican stronghold of Georgia, which Biden currently holds by a razor-thin margin.
Georgia, North Carolina and Alaska are still yet to be confirmed, but Biden would still win even if they turned red because he surpassed the 270 points needed to win the Electoral College which is how presidential elections are won.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has not gone so far as condemning Trump for labelling the presidential election a "fraud", but last week she called for every vote to be counted after Trump filed lawsuits asking for vote counting to stop in states where he was losing.
"Our strong view is that other democracies should be left to run their course but that means letting every vote be counted and letting people have their say and for a democracy to be heard," Ardern said.
Collins, who lost the race to become Prime Minister of New Zealand, has suggested that Trump be gracious in defeat and show the world how democracy works.
"America's a great democracy and I think there's a real opportunity for President Trump to play his part in everyone understanding what a great democracy America is," she said.
"It's up to the American people to make their own minds up. I just know that it is always best to deal with what has occurred and that is absolutely up to President Trump to deal with."
Collins was hammered on social media by right-wing New Zealand Trump supporters after sending her congratulations to Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
"Pathetic that you are so far left too. What have you missed, can't you be in support to get to the truth?" New Conservative candidate Bernadette Soares wrote in the comment section of her congratulatory post.
"Will never vote National again when you haven't even got the guts to call out the blatant corruption that has been going on over the last few days... even a blind man can see what's happening," another said.
Collins defended Trump during the Newshub Leaders Debate before the election when she was asked about working with the US, highlighting his role in brokering peace deals in the Middle East.
"You've got to work with whoever the leaders are. You don't get to choose the foreign leaders... He has actually done some quite recent stuff with Israel and UAE and so actually that's better than war, don't you think? He hasn't been ready to rush into war."
Ardern, when asked on Friday about her thoughts on the US election drama, said every country's democracy is different but it's important that democratic institutions are trusted and respected.
"Some will look to our MMP system, the fact that we were able to quite legitimately swear in a Government on the same day that we received the final vote count, and they may consider that a curiosity," she said.
"My view is that regardless of where we are in the world, the most important thing is that we have good, strong democracies, and they flourish when people support and believe in their democracy and their institutions, when political parties believe and support their democracies and institutions, and as much as where possible we acknowledge differences of opinion but we try to work beyond that partisanship that ultimately can be quite destabilising."
