Outwardly, U.S. officials are playing it cool even as the resignation has rattled the U.K. If the clamor surrounding Johnson’s myriad scandals fades and a more solid prime minister emerges, that could work to Washington’s benefit.
“Johnson has lurched from one political crisis to the next,” pointed out Charles Kupchan, a former senior U.S. official who dealt with European issues. “Washington could use a steadier hand in London to help guide the transatlantic community amid Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine, building competition with China, and high levels of inflation and economic dislocation.”…
The Oxford-educated Brit once questioned whether former President Barack Obama, Biden’s one-time boss, was inclined to dislike Britain’s imperial past because of his part-Kenyan heritage. He also likened former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to a “sadistic nurse in a mental hospital.”
And, of course, Johnson had cozied up to Trump, who supported his campaign to pull Britain out of the European Union. In fact, Biden described Johnson as “kind of a physical and emotional clone” of Trump, whose erratic and scandal-plagued term in the White House also did not unravel U.S.-U.K. ties.
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