Yesterday evening, Boris Johnson was interviewed on BBC4 by Eddie Mair regarding issues brought up in the Queen’s speech just several hours earlier. You’d think for such an experienced politician remembering a few details of the speech’s content and your own party’s policies would be a piece of cake, but boy did he struggle. And struggle is putting it nicely.
The interview was a complete mess. Boris came across as a clueless, bumbling idiot that had no clue what was going on, which is worrying as he’s not only an MP, but also our Foreign Secretary.
BoJo, as the nickname suggests, is rarely taken seriously by the public. From his time as the Mayor of London, he demonstrated his role as court jester and simultaneously created a reputation for himself that was already ruined. Boris is one of the only politicians that can get away with almost anything due to his ‘dazzling’ personality. It’s just Boris being Boris, the kooky idiot.
The whole 10 minutes of the interview are uncomfortable and awkward, as listeners witness Boris fail to answer question, after question, after question. The first topic Boris was faced with regarded the measures in the Queen’s speech was going to work towards preventing racial discrimination in the criminal justice system. Evidently unsure of the answer, Boris appears to be attempting to string together an answer from thin air. His uncertainty is seen through his use of “I think’ and “I believe’ and the mass of fillers he uses like ‘umm’ and ‘err’. BoJo skirts around the answer simply repeating that there will be many measures in place, making it clear to not only Eddie, but also the listeners, that he doesn’t know what those measures are. After a long pause, Boris manages to mutter the phrase “hang on a second”, which is then followed by a shuffling of papers as he searches for answers in a panic. The foreign secretary clearly had no idea what he was talking about, and Eddie wasn’t going to let that slide. Taking opportunity to embarrass the MP further, Eddie says “let me help you” before listing the measures that he was hoping to find in Boris’ answer.
I almost felt bad for the guy as I anticipated outrage from the press and general public, much like the reaction to Diane Abbott’s mistakes. However, although the media reacted, it was nowhere near the severity of criticism that Diane Abbott received in the build-up to the general election. Diane was constantly ridiculed for her disastrous interview and blunder with statistics as many demanded she stepped down from her role immediately. For a man who is planning on running for leader of the conservative party, and potentially the country, this is not okay. It does not make sense that Diane received multiple verbal attacks, even continuing after it was announced that she should be stepping down due to ill health, and Boris has got off with no more than a warning.
It is obvious that the Foreign secretary can clearly get away anything due to his privilege. Where Boris is a white, upper class man, Diane is a minority in two different areas and it’s clear that however much society tries to hide it, we’re quicker to criticise those that are weaker.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.