Boris Johnson has been accused of making “wild exaggerations and outright lies” at a highly awkward press conference with U.S. secretary of state John Kerry.
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Among Johnson’s insults over the years, were two he made in a weekly column he wrote for the Daily Telegraph newspaper, saying President Obama’s “part-Kenyan” ancestry gave him an “ancestral dislike” of Britain.
The 52-year-old Johnson once described Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton as “a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital”.
Bradley Klapper from AP reminded Johnson of both these comments and said he had also compared Clinton to Lady Macbeth.
The UK’s new Prime Minister Theresa May, who campaigned for Remain, has stressed that “Brexit means Brexit”.
Hague congratulates Johnson on his new job – “one of the most fascinating in the world” – and tells the vocal proponent of Brexit that “even many who disagreed with you about that, like me, want you to do well”. Boris Johnson deflected questions over undiplomatic utterings and emphasised the serious work he has to do, starting with Syria.
Things didn’t get much better by the time Johnson got a word in.
US Secretary of State John Kerry was holding breakfast talks with Mr Johnson and the other European Union foreign ministers as the situation in Turkey and the aftermath of the Nice atrocity drew attention away from Brexit.
At Monday’s foreign ministers’ meeting, Johnson “did not present his excuses” to his colleagues for those remarks, Ayrault said, but he added that he didn’t feel personally slighted. He “told me this man is a very smart and capable man”, Kerry said.
Brussels also warned the Government to treat European Union nationals with “dignity” after Brexit Secretary David Davis suggested new European Union migrants could be forced to leave the UK.
Ayrault repeated French calls for Britain to launch the Brexit negotiations as soon as possible so as to end uncertainty.
Shortly after the referendum passed last month, Johnson stunned his nation when he announced that he would not be pursuing the duties of Prime Minister of the UK.
Dutch foreign minister Bert Koenders said everyone was waiting to see if Mr Johnson still had the same views on Hitler.
“In that spirit, I returned to London today to reaffirm our special, unbreakable ties between the United States and Britain”, he said.
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In the news conference, Kerry, like a teacher lecturing a younger pupil, listed myriad conflicts around the world he was working to resolve, including in Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, North Korea, and the South China Sea, and he made clear that he needed Britain’s help.
