Senior conservatives frantically distanced themselves from Donald Trump after four years praising the US president as a close ally of Britain, including granting a three-day state visit and describing him as a close friend of the United States just two weeks ago. UK.
Labor accused the Conservative party of not calling Trump when it became clear weeks ago that he was refusing to accept the presidential election result. It also accused senior Tories of crawling over a well-known populist for years who insulted his allies, distributed conspiracy theories and, by treating authoritarians as his natural allies, undermined democracy everywhere.
Labor pointed to interviews in which Boris Johnson said Trump was as worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize as Barack Obama and described him as a standard New York liberal. In 2018, Johnson said, “I admire Donald Trump more and more. I have become increasingly convinced that there is method in his madness. Photos of Michael Gove, now Cabinet Office secretary and prominent Brexit campaigner, grinning with a thumbs up next to the president, capture the first vote.
But in a tweet Wednesday evening, Johnson, described by Trump himself as the British Trump, tweeted: “Shameful scenes in the US Congress. The United States stands for democracy around the world and it is now vital that an orderly and peaceful transfer of power takes place. “
His comments, which avoided direct criticism of Trump’s role in inciting violence, sparked a scathing response from former shadow secretary of state Emily Thornberry, who tweeted, “That’s it? Not a word of direct criticism of Trump. No condemnation of the exhortation. No admission that this is the culmination of 4 years of division, lies and contempt. 4 years when our own British Trump (as the president called him) has behaved like a disgraceful sycophant. “
Emily Thornberry
(@EmilyThornberry)That is it? Not a word of direct criticism of Trump. No condemnation of the exhortation. No admission that this is the culmination of 4 years of division, lies and contempt. 4 years when our own Britain Trump (as the president called him) behaved like an embarrassing sycophant #Shame https://t.co/uW7E6rWcF3
Spending two years as Shadow Secretary of State, Thornberry challenged Johnson about his proximity to Trump, warning him that he was making a strategic mistake that would ultimately backfire. Shortly after Trump’s election results were denounced as fraudulent, Thornberry urged the government to be more direct in its sentencing.
Perhaps stung by the criticism, Johnson eventually moved on during his late afternoon press conference on Downing Street when he was directly confronted with the matter. He said, “To the extent that he encouraged people to storm the Capitol and to the extent that the president has consistently expressed doubts about the free and fair elections, I think what the president has said about it is completely wrong. I unconditionally condemn encouraging people to behave as shamefully as in the Capitol. “
Until then, the most obvious charge had come from former Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt, who said, “America is the largest and most important democracy in the world, shining a light on the hill for freedom. President Trump told a crowd to march to Capitol Hill and turned against his vice president for enforcing the law. He’s shaming American democracy tonight and grieving his friends, but he’s not America. “
Hunt has been joined by other former foreign ministers who believe Trump should be immediately removed from the presidency. The chairman of the defense committee, Tobias Ellwood, accused Trump of “undermining democracy, inciting violence, fueling divisions and damaging what the nation stands for and believes in. Why would you say this? 2 weeks and will not be idle. “
Alistair Burt, another former Secretary of State, also called for Trump’s immediate resignation. His successor, James Cleverly, on the other hand, spoke of his distress on the Washington scenes as if the capital was hit by a natural disaster.
The overall strategy of the British government has always been that it would be suicidal to fall out with Trump, and by influencing those around him, like his son-in-law Jared Kushner, British interests – including a possible free trade deal – can be protected after Brexit.
In the process, Britain absorbed frequent humiliations, including ignoring important diplomatic measures such as the withdrawal of US troops from Northeast Syria, the US withdrawal from the deal with Iran, bullying over Huawei’s role in 5G and public criticism of Theresa May’s Brexit strategy.
It was symptomatic of the relationship and a source of distress for many in the State Department when Johnson failed to keep up with former British Ambassador to Washington Kim Darroch after critical reports of Trump’s personality. The documents, written in 2017, rightly predicted that the Trump administration would become no less dysfunctional, less unpredictable, less divisive between factions, less diplomatically clumsy and clumsy.
Much of this tolerance was due to the fact that Brexiteers saw Trump’s rise and their own rise from the same ideological source. Jacob Rees-Mogg wrote in the Times in 2018 prior to one of Trump’s visits, “It is our national happiness that the president with whom we will develop this new arrangement is Mr. Trump. His election depended on factors similar to those that led to Brexit. Appealing to voters left behind by the metropolitan elite, he exudes confidence in his own country and a determination not to be a manager of decline, which is also inspiring Brexiteers. Britain, he said, citing former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, could play the role of Greeks for the Romans of the Americans.