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People are comparing how Boris Johnson and Barack Obama helped someone who almost fainted

People are comparing how Boris Johnson and Barack Obama helped someone who almost fainted

Boris Johnson's tumultuous week in politics was almost perfectly encapsulated on Thursday evening when a police officer almost collapsed during one of his speeches.

The moment occurred during a televised address the prime minister was giving in West Yorkshire, where he was unusually flanked by a wall of police, which provided a striking and almost worrying image.

The female police cadet had been standing with her colleagues listening to Johnson's rambling speech for almost 20 minutes before appearing to take a turn, hold her head and sit down.

This startled Johnson, who initially seemed confused as to what was going on before apologising and confirming that he was about to finish before speaking for several more moments about Jeremy Corbyn and general election.

I'm so sorry, OK that is a signal for me actively to wind up.

Johnson's lackadaisical reaction to what had just happened, where he didn't even attempt to console the officer was heavily criticised, especially by the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson.

He was quoted by the Evening Standard as saying:

To use police officers as the backdrop to what became a political speech was inappropriate and they shouldn't have been put in that position.

It clearly turned into a rant about Brexit, the Opposition and a potential general election. There's no way that police officers should've formed the backdrop to a speech of that nature.

On social media, the condemnation for the PM's lack of compassion was swift and scornful.

People fainting during a world leader's speech isn't anything new.

Back in 2013, a similar thing happened to Barack Obama when he gave a 25-minute speech in the White House Rose Garden about the Obamacare website.

However, when he was talking a pregnant woman, named Karmel Allison who was stood directly behind him began to sway and almost fainted.

Rather than stare on in a confused state like Johnson side, Obama reached over to steady Allison and hold her until help arrived. Obama then joked saying "this happens when I talk too long."

This clip reemerged on Twitter on Thursday evening after Johnson's incident, with some urging the prime minister to take notes.

More: Labour MP applauded in Commons after calling out Boris Johnson's past racist comments

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