Does the new US ambassador to the UK think Brexit was a referendum on Donald Trump?
Lazy comparisons between the EU referendum vote for Brexit in the UK, and the election of Donald Trump for US president, are alarmingly frequent.
This is despite the obvious distinction between taking a public yes-or-no vote on leaving a politico-economic union, and electing an incoherent, orange man-child as leader of the free world.
But that aside, the one thing we all agree on is that the EU referendum and the US election were two. Totally. Separate. Occasions.
That is, everyone except Woody Johnson, the newly-appointed UK ambassador in the US.
Johnson posted this the day after the EU referendum in June last year:
Followed closely by:
It's maybe, slightly, marginally possible that Johnson interpreted a Brexit vote as an indicator of an anti-establishment mood that could be carried across the Atlantic. And then just missed out a few crucial words in his tweet.
Or it implies that he believes one (or all) of the following:
- The British population can vote in the US election (incorrect)
- A victory for leave in the UK would have automatically guaranteed a Trump presidency across the pond (illogical)
- The EU referendum was in fact, an early US election in disguise (idiot)
The online response was predictably amazing:
In any case, Trump has now rewarded Johnson for his bizarrely misguided but ultimately prescient loyalty.
Or it could be because he reminds the Donald of a certain someone.
Let's review what we know about Woody Johnson so far:
- A 69-year-old billionaire
- Owner of very big bussines (in this case, the New York Jets American football team)
- Longtime political donor
- Investigated for tax avoidance schemes via his business
- Recipient of a massive inheritance from his father (of Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company)
- No previous government experience
Sound familiar?
It's worth noting that when the Jets visited the UK for a game in 2015, they brought their own toilet paper. Apparently ours is too thin.
Oh, what a special relationship we will have.
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