‘Hello, New Zealand!’ Scott Brown introduces kiwis to family, dog, and bike

From Wrentham to Wellington. It’s now Internet-video official.

Former US senator Scott Brown, President Trump’s ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, has greeted his soon-to-be neighbors with a folksy video from the family home in Rye, N.H., introducing them to his wife, daughters, son-in-law, and family dog, Gracie.

In a 6½-minute video — evidently recorded some time ago, because snow blankets the yard — Brown offers autobiographical glimpses and describes his eagerness to take on his new post.

“Hello, New Zealand,” he tells viewers in the video posted by the New Zealand Herald. “Hello, Samoa. I’m Scott Brown. I’m going to be the new ambassador, the new representative for the United States of America to your countries. And it’s an honor.”

The camera follows Brown from the front porch into their Rye home. His daughters Ayla and Arianna (with her husband, Jimmy), fresh back from a concert in Nashville, describe the family’s excitement. Ayla foreshadows a Brown-hosted “American barbecue” to which the locals will be invited.

Brown’s wife, Gail, says the family is looking forward to New Zealand’s renowned sporting culture and physical beauty, acknowledging that “we haven’t seen it yet.”

Brown treats viewers to a brief tour of the home, showing them “Daddy’s corner” with guitars, records, and a turntable “with a needle” — and the family’s bikes, including the one Brown uses to race triathlons.

Trump nominated Brown to serve as ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa after passing him over for the veterans affairs post in his Cabinet. The Senate confirmed him last week on a 94-4 vote.

The former senator walks the viewer through his rocky upbringing, including living on welfare and in 17 houses by the time he was 18 years old, “drunken stepfathers, a lot of physical abuse in the family, I had to come and, you know, rescue Mom and my sister a lot. I really think that’s what made me who I am today.”

He touches briefly on policy goals, mentioning national security, trade, and environmental and visa policies.

One résumé bullet Brown does not mention? His political background, including time in the Massachusetts Legislature before winning a captivating 2010 special US Senate election. He lost the seat two years later to Democrat Elizabeth Warren, then waged an unsuccessful challenge to Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire in 2014.

Massachusetts, in fact, is not mentioned at all. Brown says the family has been in Rye “for about 25 years.” Public records show the family bought the Rye property in 1993, though their residence at the time was in Massachusetts. Brown moved to New Hampshire before the 2014 race.

Now, he appears ready to move on, and south.

“We are so psyched and excited to come down and visit with each and every one of you,” he tells New Zealand and Samoa.