President Biden gave departing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson the chilly shoulder in an preliminary statement reacting to Johnson resigning his position Thursday — failing to even point out the outgoing chief’s identify.
“The United Kingdom and the United States are the closest of friends and Allies, and the special relationship between our people remains strong and enduring,” Biden mentioned in the statement, obtained by CBS News.
“I look forward to continuing our close cooperation with the government of the United Kingdom, as well as our Allies and partners around the world, on a range of important priorities,” the president continued. “That includes maintaining a strong and united approach to supporting the people of Ukraine as they defend themselves against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s brutal war on their democracy, and holding Russia accountable for its actions.”
Biden’s statement is a pointy shift from these made by his predecessors in response to the resignations of earlier British prime ministers.
In 2016, when David Cameron stepped down as PM following the Brexit referendum, President Barack Obama referred to as him “an outstanding friend and partner on the global stage” in a speech at Stanford University’s Global Entrepreneurship Summit.
Three years later, President Donald Trump mentioned he felt “badly” for Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, after she resigned for failing to get Parliament on board together with her proposed deal permitting the UK to go away the EU.
“I feel badly for Theresa. I like her very much,” Trump told reporters on the time. “She’s a good woman. She worked very hard. She’s very strong. She decided to do something that some people were surprised at, some people weren’t. It’s for the good of her country. But I like her very much.”
In 2007, when Tony Blair handed the reins of energy to his longtime lieutenant Gordon Brown, President George W. Bush hailed Blair as a “political figure who is capable of thinking over the horizon.”
“I have found him to be a man who’s kept his word, which sometimes is rare in the political circles I run in,” Bush mentioned on the time, according to Reuters.
“When Tony Blair tells you something, as we say in Texas, you can take it to the bank,” Bush added.
It is unclear why Biden made no point out of Johnson in the statement. The White House didn’t instantly reply to The Post’s request for remark.
When requested by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins if he had any response to Johnson’s resignation, Biden responded, “No, it’s a part of the process.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated that the US alliance with the UK stays “strong” and that cooperation between the 2 nations — notably concerning army assist to Ukraine — would change “in no way”.
Johnson, who has been in workplace since 2019, mentioned Thursday that he’ll stay in his function till a successor is appointed, a course of which may take a number of weeks.
The prime minister’s resignation got here after a string of controversies chipped away at belief in his management — most notably the “Partygate” scandal, which led to Johnson being fined for breaching COVID-19 lockdown guidelines set by his personal authorities.
