London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Boris Johnson was fired from Channel 4’s U.S. election night program for advertising his book too much.
The ex-U.K. PM, providing commentary for the British broadcaster, repeatedly held up his recently issued memoir “Unleashed” and dropped references to it, despite being told off by the hosts for doing so. “Now, here in the studio we have an especially new panel — Boris Johnson has been fired for banging on about his book too much,” stated co-anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy less than two hours into Channel 4’s coverage.
What led to tension between Johnson and the show’s hosts?
It remains ambiguous whether Johnson’s departure was scheduled or unscheduled. Just minutes into the show, the ex-PM held up his book as Guru-Murthy told him to “put it away” and branded him “so cheap.” Johnson declined to follow orders, saying: “There’s absolutely nothing you can do to stop me … I’m allowed to plug my book.” He frequently expressed answers to the anchor’s questions about Ukraine and Johnson’s political comeback could be found in the book.
Co-anchor Emily Maitlis commented: “We are not all going to read your book, so just tell us, do you want to have a political comeback … You can’t reply to a single question.” Johnson was unperturbed by the objection, arguing he’d answered all the queries and was “blissfully engaged promoting my book ‘Unleashed,’ available in all good book stores.”
How does Johnson deny comparisons to Donald Trump?
As PM, Johnson associated himself with Republican candidate Donald Trump and has met him at least twice since exiting power to examine the war in Ukraine. Johnson stated he’d spoken to Trump “quite recently.” However, Johnson disregarded accusations he modelled himself on Trump as “complete and utter tripe.”