Thomas Krych/AP
A spiral of lies and deliberate efforts to mislead parliament may have undone Boris Johnson’s premiership. But don’t expect the former Conservative prime minister of the United Kingdom, who is out promoting a forthcoming memoir, to have abandoned his long-running mendacity.
In a Wednesday interview, Johnson said that he did not believe that Donald Trump ever intended to “overthrow the Constitution” by sowing deep mistrust in the 2020 election results and inciting his supporters on January 6.
“I personally don’t think he intended to overthrow the Constitution and what actually happened was the peaceful transfer of democratic power from one administration to another,” Johnson told Times Radio.
He also claimed that Trump’s refusal to accept the election results shouldn’t preclude another chance at the White House.
The remarks stand in stark contrast to the unequivocal condemnation Johnson expressed as prime minister in the immediate aftermath of January 6, an event Johnson decried as “disgraceful.”
“I believe what President Trump has been saying about that has been completely wrong and I unreservedly condemn encouraging people to behave in the disgraceful way that they did in the Capitol,” he said at the time, joining in nearly universal shock and condemnation of Trump from international leaders.
Of course, sudden bouts of amnesia regarding former president Trump are nothing new for conservative politicians. Nearly everyone in the Republican Party has similarly abandoned the criticisms they made of Trump on January 6 or in its wake as his sway on the party held strong. Similarly, there is a way in which Johnson’s latest defense could be a sign elite opinion in the UK is betting on Trump returning to power.
Or perhaps it’s much simpler than that. The famously cash-poor Johnson—who, besides having a lavish Oxfordshire manor to renovate, can’t seem to count how many children he has to feed—wants you to buy his book. And he’ll do whatever it takes to get the attention. “Them’s the breaks,” I guess.
