Tory minister Liz Truss has been accused of “selling her soul” by defending Boris Johnson’s record in an excruciating interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today show.
Johnson has done just one newspaper interview and no major broadcast interviews during the Conservative leadership campaign, leading to accusations that he is hiding from the media.
Today host John Humphrys began the interview by commenting:
Boris Johnson is formally entering the Tory leadership race today and he’s with me in the studio… I joke, of course. He hasn’t done a single broadcast interview since Theresa May announced her departure...
He then went on to list Johnson’s alleged failures in his political and personal life, quoting articles that accused him of being “a habitual liar” and having “not the slightest moral compass”.
However, Truss bizarrely dismissed those criticisms by claiming they show "the huge public appeal [Johnson] has and the power he has to communicate”.
Liz Truss says this column on Boris Johnson by Matthew Parris “shows the huge public appeal he has and the power he… https://t.co/4AIIlQrguT— Kevin Schofield (@Kevin Schofield) 1560321746
Humphrys’ also brought up Johnson’s conduct as foreign secretary with Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian citizen who has been detained in Iran since April 2016.
In 2017, Johnson incorrectly said Zaghari-Ratcliffe “was simply teaching people journalism” in Iran, while her family has always maintained that she was on holiday.
His statement was cited as evidence against her in an Iranian court and she remains in jail there.
After stumbling over the pronunciation of Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s name, Truss tried to claim it was “apologists” for Iran who were blaming Johnson for her continued detention.
"Apologists for Iran are putting the blame on Boris Johnson." Treasury Secretary @trussliz who is supporting Johns… https://t.co/ed9WAyFKx9— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBC Radio 4 Today) 1560326091
The interview, in which Truss failed to address many of Humphrys’ points, received an extremely negative response on social media - with some people comparing her to Trump press secretary Sarah Sanders...
Liz Truss there, selling her soul in the hope of securing a post in a Cabinet led by a cheat & charged with imposin… https://t.co/TcmitCuPnS— James Oh Brien (@James Oh Brien) 1560323020
Liz truss is, on Boris Johnson’s behalf, doing a good job of demonstrating why Boris Johnson isn’t doing Today prog… https://t.co/7wi2venRIx— gabyhinsliff (@gabyhinsliff) 1560321721
Liz truss sounding like Sarah sanders finding its very hard to defend the indefensible without sounding like a fool #r4today— Laura (@Laura) 1560321770
And many commentators noted that it was "humiliating" for Truss to have to defend a record that Johnson himself has avoided commenting on.
Radio 4, listening to Liz Truss defend Johnson becaise he is too chicken to appear personally - excruciating is being very kind.— Brian Moore (@Brian Moore) 1560323535
Liz Truss’s @BBCr4today performance, sent in whilst Boris is cowering somewhere to defend his numerous errors and… https://t.co/18xMWqAKNT— Adam Wagner (@Adam Wagner) 1560322814
Johnson is set to face questions from journalist at his campaign launch today, where he expected to be asked about his record as foreign secretary, his alleged drug use and his reputation as a dishonest politician.