Polling shows Tory voters are hoping that Trump loses.
A new poll has shown that even Conservative and Leave voters want Donald Trump to lose the next election – despite the close relationship between him and Boris Johnson.
While Tory and Leave voters are more evently split than the general British population, they still favour Biden by about 45% to 25%.
Biden’s lead among Brits is slightly higher than it was in July, when 54% backed by Biden and 14% wanted Trump.
Several Conservative politicians have built close relationships with Donald Trump and his team since the Brexit vote, which Trump supported, and Trump’s election later that year.
During Trump’s first meeting with then Prime Minister Theresa May, he asked her: “‘Why isn’t Boris Johnson the prime minister? Didn’t he want the job?”
After May’s resignation, Trump broke diplomatic protocol to comment on the leadership race. “I think Boris would do a very good job,” he said. “I think he would be excellent. I like him. I have always liked him.”
After Johnson got in to Downing Street, he spoke to Trump ten times about Brexit and world affairs in his first month.
The former British ambassador to the US Kim Darroch has said Trump sees Johnson as a “kindred spirit” and Johnson is “fascinated” by Trump.
Other Tories are also close to Trump and his team. In January 2019, Axios revealed that Trump’s controversial then security adviser John Bolton spoke regularly to Chris Grayling and Liam Fox, “encouraging the Brexiteers to keep it up”.
Another Brexiteer, Michael Gove, has interviewed Trump for the Times. The interview was criticised for being too soft and was conducted with Times owner Rupert Murdoch in the room.
In June 2019, Trump called Sadiq Khan “short” and a “stone cold loser”. Then Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt defended Trump and criticised the London Mayor.
Joe Lo is a co-editor of Left Foot Forward
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