Boris Johnson, former UK Foreign Secretary and current front-runner in the Conservative Party leadership race, in an interview on Thursday spoke approvingly of US President Donald Trump's critical comments about outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May and her attempts to deliver Brexit
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th July, 2019) Boris Johnson, former UK Foreign Secretary and current front-runner in the Conservative Party leadership race, in an interview on Thursday spoke approvingly of US President Donald Trump's critical comments about outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May and her attempts to deliver Brexit.
In a series of Twitter posts earlier this week, Trump criticized May for "creating a mess" by her "foolish" way of handling Brexit.
"When it comes to the context of what the president [Trump] has said about the Brexit deal, I find it hard to disagree," Johnson said, as quoted by the European edition of Politico.
When asked whether he found it acceptable for a foreign leader to criticize the UK government, Johnson said that while Brexit was an issue that was best discussed internally, it could not be described as "brilliantly handled."
Johnson also added that since the Brexit Party defeated the Conservatives in the European elections and strengthened its standing as the largest UK party in the EU parliament, he now had more leverage to push the European Union to re-negotiate the divorce terms with London.
"They [Brussels] know we are serious," Johnson added and pledged to begin no-deal preparations immediately after he becomes prime minister.
The topic of Brexit has been dominating the Conservative leadership race, whose winner will automatically become the next prime minister. Johnson, a Brexit proponent, launched his "Back Boris" campaign earlier in June, pledging to deliver "a sensible, orderly Brexit" by the October 31 deadline. His competitor, incumbent Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, initially campaigned for the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union but then switched to saying that it would be better for London to leave without a deal by October 31 rather than remain any longer.
The Tories are expected to announce their new leader on July 23.
