UK’s Boris Johnson is embarrassed by Trump

Some whirlwind romances
you regret for many years.
Isolated from its former European partners during Brexit, the UK looked for succor from the US. Two Conservative prime ministers in succession — Theresa May and Boris Johnson — tried to woo the White House in search of a revived Atlanticism and a fat trade deal. Did Johnson go too far in courting President Donald Trump?
Johnson is often compared to Trump, especially in the liberal US media, which sees one blond political buffoon with a salty turn of phrase as being pretty much like another. And yet, the two men’s characters are very different. Britain’s prime minister is a hopeless optimist who dislikes giving friends, colleagues and voters any bad news, and who tends towards a Pollyannaish view that things will turn out alright. Trump’s vision of the world is unremittingly dark. He sees chaos, gloom and betrayal everywhere.
Johnson can use populist language, but he does so to invigorate. Trump deploys it to agitate, and there is — as we saw this week — a vast difference. As the democratic world reacted with horror to Wednesday’s insurrection at the Capitol, Johnson tweeted “Disgraceful scenes in US Congress,” adding that “the United States stands for democracy around the world and it is now vital that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power.”
The tweet, however, neither named the president nor mentioned his role as chief insurgent. By the close of play Johnson shed the coyness and condemned Trump directly for “encouraging people to storm the Capitol.” He said, “For him to cast doubt on a free and fair election, that’s completely wrong.”
That leaves the awkward question of why, in the weeks since Joe Biden’s election, Johnson left it so long to use Britain’s status as
valued US ally to say something consequential about Trump’s dangerous refusal to go quietly.
Accusations of soft pedaling don’t just apply to the British, however. Western governments rarely like to intervene in the internal
affairs of an ally, least of all in the domestic politics of a friendly superpower. President Emmanuel Macron of France and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel were similarly circumspect as the mayhem in Washington unfolded on Wednesday night, although they at least addressed their remarks to camera. Merkel’s “angry and sad” comment left no doubt that she was personally invested.
Johnson’s allies point out that he did hail Biden as the winner of the election within hours of the result, to Trump’s evident anger.
—Bloomberg