I wonder what New Zealanders think of Trump.
They must think we're a bunch of idiots for allowing him to get so close to the Presidency....
Well, we weren't fond of Bush at all, and that was the bar before.
Basically, New Zealanders think Trump as a joke and while we are generally optimistic that Hillary will become President, the fact Trump is the Republican candidate is seen to speak volumes about the "stupidity" of a large part of the electorate (with various degrees of racism, right wing conservatism, and prejudice thrown in depending on who you talk too).
In general, the US is viewed favorably even if US foreign policy is seen as heavy handed and biased towards pursuing commercial interests over humanitarian ones. US politics is considered somewhat of a joke in general given the ineffectiveness of it and the absolutely unprofessional and vitriolic partisan rhetoric, with politicians seeming more worried about re-election than governing. That isn't a "both sides" argument so much as a view on what seems to be an overall broken system.
Of course, the nomination of Sarah Palin gave us a taste of what we might one day expect from the Republicans. So while NZers see Trump as a racist fool, it isn't actually surprising that he might be running for President and being somewhat successful in his pursuit, at least so far.