Unwise words come back to haunt Boris...
President Elect Joe Biden hasn’t forgotten the PM’S jibe at his old boss Barack Obama
FOUR years ago, many in Downing Street felt they had found a friend in Donald Trump. As an ardent Brexiteer with a dislike of Europe, it was hoped the new US leader would cement an even stronger ‘special relationship’ with the UK.
A closer partnership with the States would have softened some of the economic chaos caused by Brexit as Trump wanted bilateral freetrade deals and a speedy US/UK free-trade agreement.
Downing Street rubbed its hands with glee as the US leader called Boris Johnson “Britain’s Trump” such was his admiration for the Prime Minister.
But since his rise and now fall from power, the UK has endured a somewhat chaotic relationship with the US leader and America as a result.
Trump openly attacked Theresa May when she was PM, accused British spooks of spying on him, claimed the UK had “no-go areas” and retweeted three inflammatory videos from a British far-right group.
But despite the rocky road with Trump, it is unimaginable to think Downing Street is today filled with the same sense of optimism it had four years ago. And for good reason.
As his handling of Britain’s Covid pandemic has so critically shown, Johnson’s propensity for being unable to think things through before speaking may now haunt him given the change in leadership.
Four years ago incoming soonto-be US leader Joe Biden was Barack Obama’s vice president, when the Prime Minister spoke disparagingly of the White House.
Johnson suggested Obama’s opposition to Brexit was due to an “ancestral dislike of the British empire” due to his “part-kenyan heritage”.
At the time, the US leader and Biden were on their way out of the White House, leaving Hillary Clinton to challenge Trump for the top job.
It was clear Johnson, then Mayor of London, felt he had little to lose, effectively backing the right horse in the 2016 race.
But now, as Biden forms his administration and with no US/UK post-brexit trade deal agreed, Johnson finds himself in the precarious place of needing as many political friends as possible.
By all accounts, the new president is an amiable fellow, but many of his allies have failed to forgive the “part-kenyan” jibe.
More importantly, it is understood Biden himself, who last year called Johnson “a physical and emotional clone” of Trump, has not forgotten.
The Prime Minister’s words today leave Britain in an uncertain place, even more so given Biden’s strong sense of his Irish heritage.
Before winning last month’s
election, he expressed concern about the possible impact Britain’s departure from the European Union could have on Ireland’s economy and Northern Ireland’s security.
It may then answer why the Prime Minister’s place as the first fellow leader to speak with the presidentelect failed to materialise this time around.
Given Johnson’s history with Biden – a man he has never met – it should come as no surprise Downing Street resigned itself to being lower down
the list. Before they spoke, Johnson sent his congratulations, but even that was a disaster.
In the official tweet from his office, there were faintly visible words in the text that also congratulated Trump.
Johnson could use a few friends right now. His party and the country are at loggerheads over Covid, ministers are resigning, and still, no post-brexit trade deal with the European Union has been secured.
With Trump’s defeat, there’s no
longer any incentive for the Europeans to fear Britain will get a faster, more favourable deal with the Americans.
Worse still with a pro-eu Biden in charge, Johnson’s “Auf Wiedersehen, Meine Freunde” threat to Brussels negotiators is no more.
The Prime Minister managed, like his friend Trump, to beat coronavirus personally but it’s his continuing suffering of foot-in-mouth disease that threatens Britain’s prosperity most.