Amanda Knox gets mixed reaction to joke about US election

With the count still neck-and-neck in the US election, Amanda Knox has received a backlash for a tongue-in-cheek tweet about the possibility of Donald Trump remaining in power.

Ms Knox, who spent nearly four years in an Italian prison over the killing of British student Meredith Kercher, wrote on Twitter: “Whatever happens, the next four years can't be as bad as that four-year study abroad I did in Italy, right?”

Her comment received a mixed response, with some calling it funny but many finding the comparison objectionable.

This isn’t the first time Ms Knox has made a statement mocking the current establishment. Earlier, when some Twitter users compared her to the newly appointed justice of the Supreme Court Amy Coney Barrett, she said: “People keep telling me I resemble Amy Coney Barrett. I do! In that, neither of us are qualified for the supreme court. @nbcsnl you know where to find me."

Ms Knox made her criticism for Donald Trump loud and clear during the 2016 elections as well, when she voted for Hillary Clinton. 

Mr Trump had previously urged people to stand up with her when she was convicted of murder in Italy before she was brought back to US. Her decision to speak against Mr Trump’s policies drew strong backlash from Trump supporters.

In an article for the LA Times, she retorted stating she owed him a thank you — but nothing more.

“Do I owe him my loyalty?” Ms Knox asked.

The 33-year-old found herself in the middle of an international firestorm after she was accused of murdering her roommate Kercher in Italy, where she went as an exchange student. She was later acquitted in 2015 after spending four years in an Italian prison.

Ms Knox now works for the rights of women in conflict with the law, and has her own podcast about the criminal justice system.

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