The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
PM talks to Biden amid tweet furore
Controversy has surrounded Boris John son’ s tweet congratulating Joe Biden on his US election victory after sharp-eyed social media users spotted the word “Trump” showing faintly in the background of the message.
This led to speculation that Number 10 had originally prepared a message to herald a Donald Trump win, only to replace it with one acknowledging the Democratic candidate’s success after US media outlets called the race for the former vice-president on Saturday.
Downing Street said that a “technical” error caused the situation.
A government spokesperson said: “As you’ d expect, two statements were prepared in advance for the outcome of this closely contested election.
“A technical error meant that parts of the alternative message were embedded in the background of the graphic.”
The prime minister posted on Saturday: “Congratulations to Joe Biden on his election as president of the United States and to Kamala Harris on her historic achievement.
“The US is our most important ally and I look forward to working closely together on our shared priorities, from climate change to trade and security.”
However, above the message appear to be traces of a different message referring to Mr Trump.
The situation was highlighted by the Guido Fawkes website, which also noted faint words stating “the future” and “second term” buried in the tweet.
Meanwhile, Mr Johnson has said he has spoken to Mr Biden to congratulate the US president-elect on his victory over Donald Trump.
The PM spoke to the Democrat yesterday amid concerns the pair may not have a smooth relationship because of issues surrounding Brexit.
Mr Johnson is understood to have spoken to the former vice-president for around 25 minutes yesterday afternoon.
“I just spoke to Joe Biden to congratulate him on his election ,” the prime minister tweeted.
“I look forward to strengthening the partnership between our countries and to working with him on our shared priorities – from tackling climate change, to promoting democracy and building back better from the pandemic.”
Mr Tr0ump, seen as an international ally of Mr Johnson, has so far refused
to concede defeat in the election.
Mr Biden has insisted that maintaining peace in Northern Ireland is paramount to any postBrexit UK-US trade deal.
The Foreign Office’s top diplomat Sir Philip Barton was questioned about
the tweet blunder while appearing before MPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Sir Philip said he did not know whether his department had discussed the content of the message with Number 10 before it was posted.