Boris Johnson is ‘like human garbage’: What Americans think about next UK prime minister

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As Boris Johnson prepares to move into 10 Downing Street, The Independent took to the streets of New York City to find out what Americans think of the next prime minister of the UK.

We stopped people in Union Square to ask their opinions on Mr Johnson, Brexit, and what they think the relationship between the new prime minister and President Trump will be like.

While most people we spoke to had heard of Boris Johnson, opinions regarding the British politician were bleak.

For many, Mr Johnson is nothing more than a UK version of the US president.

Aaron Davis, a 52-year-old from Newport, Rhode Island, when asked what he thinks about Mr Johnson, said: “I think he’s an idiot.

“He seems much more concerned about himself and his own brand and his own image than he does about the country that he is allegedly going to represent now.”

According to Davis, Mr Johnson is similar to “the clown show that’s here in the US” and he thinks the two leaders will get along “as much as insane narcissistic people get along with each other”.

Regarding Brexit, Davis told us he thinks it was a “poorly formed vote that should never have happened and I think it was a bit naive for them to have the vote and you get what you ask for.

“But now that that bed is made, rather than laying in it, they should have another vote.”

Ethan Minsker, 49, from New York City, had only negative things to say about the future prime minister of the UK, and the US president.

“He’s the same thing as Trump so he’s like human garbage,” Minsker told us. “He has terrible hair, he’s an idiot… he’s a tool of the Russians.

“I mean clearly the Russians are trying to break up the EU, they’re trying to break up NATO, they’re trying to sow discord around the world so any politician who understands that at this time is using that populist thing to gather power.”

When asked what Mr Johnson is driven by, Minsker said: “Purely self-interest. I don’t think he gives a crap about anybody. Just like Trump doesn’t.

“I don’t think there’s a difference between him and Donald Trump.”

As for the future of Brexit, Minsker said: “It will be highly entertaining to watch what happens to the English from their own doing. It’s not a good thing. But it will be very entertaining to watch what happens. I’ll be sad but I’ll watch.”

One woman we spoke to, Cassie Edwards, 33, from Washington DC, who happens to be a Brexit-supporter, said Mr Johnson is similar to the US president, but maybe “not as bad”.

“I think he is probably the UK version of Trump but probably not as bad,” she told us. “I believe in Brexit and he believes in that too, maybe a little too quickly, but I feel like it’s good for the UK to be independent from that. Even if there are really good benefits to being in the union.

“There is some taxes associated with it and some extra work and then the currency, if that currency is down then British currency is down… and it went down too, when they entered the union. So I feel like it’s better to be independent in that regard.”

When asked whether she believes Boris Johnson and Donald Trump will get along, Edwards said: “I’m not sure, they’re both tumultuous people, so who knows? It could go up in the air.”

If anything, Mr Johnson’s decision to call out Mr Trump over the president’s “go back” tweets directed at four US congresswomen shows that he is not “as terrible as a person,” according to Edwards.

“But, we tend to think of British people as being pleasant anyway even though they’re not, so...” she concluded.

Others were less informed of the political happenings across the pond.

“Boris Johnson? He’s taking over from Theresa May,” Keith, 54, from upstate New York, told us, before explaining he doesn’t “know enough about him” to tell us his opinions on the Tory politician.

As for the future Prime Minister’s relationship with Mr Trump, Keith said: “I know they have a good relationship,” before informing us that he doesn’t have an opinion on Brexit either because “it doesn’t affect me”.

Emily, a 25-year-old from Dallas, Texas, told us she doesn’t know who Boris Johnson is, and only knows Theresa May “maybe a little”.

In response to a question about whether it meant anything to her that Mr Johnson was very pro-Brexit, she told us: “No.”