During a television debate, UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who was standing against Johnson for the leadership of the Conservative party, reiterated his support for Kim Darroch, who described US President Donald Trump and his administration “inept” and “incompetent,” in his leaked emails.
Boris Johnson (Photo: AFP)
British Prime Ministerial contender Boris Johnson has refused to rule out the firing of UK ambassador to Washington who provoked the ire of US President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
During a television debate, UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who was standing against Johnson for the leadership of the Conservative party, reiterated his support for Kim Darroch, who described US President Donald Trump and his administration “inept” and “incompetent,” in his leaked emails.
Hunt said, “I will keep (Darroch) until he’s due to retire”, CNN reported.
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Johnson, a former Foreign Secretary, refused to go out on a limb about whether he would decide to keep Darroch on. “I won’t be so presumptuous as to assume that I’m going to be in a position to take that,” he added.
Johnson also said, “It is vital that our civil service is not politicized by people leaking what they say”.
“Whoever leaked that deserves to be eviscerated”, Johnson added.
In a series of tweets, Trump had branded Kim Darroch as a “wacky” and “very stupid guy” after the British envoy criticized Trump in diplomatic cables that were leaked to the Daily Mail over the weekend.
Jeremy Hunt’s defence of Darroch came amid growing speculation around whether the ambassador can remain in his position if the White House freezes him out.
Kim Darroch decided not to attend a meeting with Ivanka Trump on Tuesday following the President’s criticism of him, a source told CNN.
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