Why does Boris Johnson see a Trump victory as optimistic?
A possible Donald Trump White House resumption, according to the former mayor of London and former British Conservative Prime Minister, to YSL News.
Do n’t count Boris Johnson among those current and former European leaders worried about Donald Trump’s potential reelection.
The former British prime minister refuted the claim that Trump’s unpredictability helped to rattle despots by claiming that Vladimir Putin, the country’s president, probably would n’t have invaded Ukraine if Trump had been in office in 2022. He also refuted the notion that it also ratcheted allied leaders, perhaps less.
While he did n’t accept Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris, Johnson called the last weeks of their fierce battle a “magnificent” presentation of politics, despite the division and fear that has British voters “going fruits”.
Johnson, 60, has written a colorful 772-page narrative titled” Launched”, published by Harper, documenting his tumultuous stints as London president, British foreign minister and Liberal prime minister.
Here’s some of what he said in Thursday’s half-hour appointment, though it’s hard to convey in words his imitations of previous German chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and people.
For size and quality, the answers have been quietly edited.
Q: We’re merely nights away from our vote. Tell me what you make of our vote.
Johnson: Range one, this issue is moving everybody beans, right? Folks are freaking out because we are in New York right now. They’re planning fruits about the vote. You can tell there’s kind of true section, fear on either side, but there’s also something wonderful because anyone knows what’s going to happen on Tuesday ….
And that’s a fantastic thing because Russia, China, loads of places, they have “elections”, in inverted commas, ]making quotation marks in the air], but they sure as hell know what the outcome’s going to be. The most powerful nation on Earth, therefore, has a vibrant, active democracy that is truly in the hands of the people. And although it’s chaotic, although it kind of feels frightening, it’s wonderful….
Whatever you say about either candidate, I can tell you that neither one is waging a fight for those votes. They’re fighting to persuade people to vote for themselves. And that’s it, that’s democracy. And Vladimir Putin does n’t do that. He does n’t go out. He is not required to perform stunts on garbage trucks or deliver speeches at rallies. Nor does]Chinese President ] Xi Jinping.
Q: In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, you were a leader. Do you worry about what Putin might do to Ukraine if he is elected, given what Trump has said about Putin and his promise to put an end to the conflict in a day?
Johnson: This is my optimistic scenario… When I look at what Trump actually did when he was in office, when I was foreign secretary, and then when I was prime minister, I look at how he handled the Russia file by comparison with the Democrats….
He has all these different kinds of Putin fanboys, as well as an odd gang of Republicans and journalists who all seem to believe Putin is a great God-loving, God-fearing Christian. It’s just total nuts, this stuff.
But in spite of that, he did some very good stuff. In the battle for Kiev, he gave the Ukrainians the Javelin missiles, and they were brilliantly successful at plinking those Russian tanks.
I’ll just say that the relative inertia under the previous Democratic administration was stark contrasted by the actual evidence of what he did. And I’m only, as they say, saying. So just wait and see, is what I would say….
Maybe you think I’m wrong, but instinctively I think he’s going to be for freedom. And because of this, I simply do n’t understand how he can permit humiliation of both the West and America. The biggest war in Europe in over 80 years is the biggest one we’ve ever had to contend with. If NATO loses it on his watch, that’s not going to be a good thing.
Q: Do you have faith in Trump to follow his orders?
Johnson: I think one thing he says is credible:” It’s probably true that Putin would not have done it if he had been in charge of the” 22 invasion,” in my opinion. That seems appropriate to me, in my opinion.
People say that one of the things that worries people is his unpredictability, right? ” Oh, he’s unpredictable”. That’s a good thing. It’s good dealing internationally, because foreign leaders are a little nervous about ( him ). All deterrence is based on unpredictability. All deterrence is based on unpredictability, but it’s also based on strength.
A: Is the unpredictability that despots and enemies benefit from ever becoming so?
Johnson: There’s so much rubbish talked about this. Let me give you an example, NATO, right? …There was a wonderful summit]in Brussels in May 2017]. I was a foreign secretary. I was sitting just behind him, just to the right. And I watched him. He had this speech, tore it up, and then he just extemporized this great tirade against everyone. Angela Merkel goggling at him, and Macron was looking sick as a parrot, but it was brilliant.
The point was it was pure U. S. policy… but it was done in a totally unconventional way. Later, people reported that the summit threatened to leave NATO because, oh, Trump. He was n’t anything of the kind. He was simply stating British and American policies that would encourage greater spending and pay. But he did it in a way that was unconventional.
Q: It alarmed everybody.
.Johnson: It alarmed everybody. However, it was beneficial because more money was being made.
Q: In your book, you write that there were” surprising upsides” to Trump’s dealings with Syria, with Iran. Most European leaders do n’t seem to understand him, though.
Johnson: I think it’s just a sort of stylistic thing…. They think it’s kind of uncouth, but I do n’t, and it is a terrible thing to admit, but I like it, so shoot me. I like it, though, if he shows up in a garbage truck to mock his opponent. That’s my kind of level, OK? And maybe it does n’t suit more refined political tastes, but I happen to go with it.
Q: Could Boris Johnson becoming prime minister once more if Trump wins a second term?
Johnson: Look, I once said that having an olive-like body and champagne-blindness as my chances of becoming prime minister were equivalent.
Q: Then you became prime minister,
Johnson: That’s true. That’s true. But I think the truth is, I have a very happy, fortunate life, and you will intuit the answer to your question, Susan, from the pages ]holding up his book].
Q: You’re not finished with politics, according to what I discovered in your book’s pages.
Johnson: Really? Oh boy. Oh, brother. Well, I’ve got a lot of energy, but at the moment, I’m living a life of blameless obscurity in Oxfordshire.
Q: In” Unleashed”, you write that on Election Night in 2016, you suddenly realized your “lizard brain” wanted Trump to win.
Johnson: Well, the mammalian cortex, I think, was with my Foreign Office advisors, who were all for Hillary. I like Hillary Clinton. I think she’s a very distinguished, very distinguished public servant and very impressive. And we always had enjoyable conversations. She was always very gracious and funny when I made some terrible comments about her. So I’m a fan in some ways….
People attack populism, but I kind of feel that our system is a great, great system, and it wo n’t work if you ca n’t actually address what people want you to fix. Really bad guys will profit from it if you do n’t address it. I’m not with the kind of racist or extreme parties. You’ve got to take their wind. You’ve got to take their water and keep society together.
Q: Does your lizard brain anticipate that Trump will win?
Johnson: My lizard brain is telling me very, very, very, very strongly that this is the decision for the American people.