Daily Times

The Former Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson was sworn in as the Prime Minister and as the head of the Conservative party in the United Kingdom on the 24th of July 2019. Since then the internet has been blazed with tweets, articles, and interviews stating how Boris Johnson is the British version of President Trump. Some say this because he shares many physical features with the president of the United States, while others on the ground of racism and xenophobia.

This rhetoric, however, is far from the truth. While it is true that Boris Johnson might share a few aspects with President Trump’s personality and policy, it is also worthy to note that Mr. Johnson is a far more complex figurehead, and currently is in charge of making a decision that could potentially break the world economy in general, and that of the European Union in particular.

Unlike President Trump, Johnson has managed to present himself as a jolly old Englishman who knows how to make things fun. He has been successful in portraying himself as a clownish figure that everyone loves to laugh with. This persona, however, is not just to make the public feel more at home with Mr. Johnson but is a closely calculated way of making sure no matter how bad he messes up, this humour and charm will overshadow it. Be it his outright racist comments on of calling women who wear burkas as bank robbers and letterboxes, his homophobic branding of homosexuals as “tank top wearing bum boys” or his outlandish and factually incorrect Euroscepticism.

Mr Johnson also received little to no backlash for being wealthy, out of touch aristocratic figure masquerading as a representative of people when a photo of him from his time as a member of the Oxford Bullingdon Club surfaced back in 2009. The same picture became a PR disaster and liability for then Prime Minister and fellow member of the “prestigious club” David Cameron.  Mr. Johnson was able to save face and brush his privileged lifestyle off in front of the people and the media through this wits and nonsensical behaviour is something that President Trump has never been able to do. Be it the Access Hollywood tape, or any other past related Trump scandals.

Another trait that sets Mr. Johnson apart from President Trump is the public image that they have created as policymakers. Many consider President Trump of not knowing what he’s doing but somehow manages to get the job done. While in Boris’ case, it’s the opposite. On the surface, Mr. Johnson might know what he’s doing, but in reality, things might not be the same. Proof of which can be seen in his plans for a Brexit. Mr. Johnson’s personality is a carefully calibrated act which has allowed him to gain the support of his party members, something which at crucial times the President of the United States did not have, hence, the excessive use of presidential veto powers.  It would be interesting to see how this calibrated act fares against the outcome of Brexit. With the Brexit deadline in less than 100 days, many argue that Mr. Johnson’s crafted persona has helped him avoid serious consequences in the past but might fail in front of the impending doom of Brexit. The three versions of the Brexit deal that were agreed by the EU parliament have been rejected in the British parliament.

Would Mr. Johnson be able to get the Brexit that he wanted?  Or will he end up causing an economic meltdown in the world economy, something which even President Trump was careful in not doing while starting a trade war with China?