Emily Maitlis left the Channel 4 studio after ‘swearing’ following the news that Donald Trump was nearing a confirmed victory to become the 47th President of the United States.
This moment came hours after the presenter was praised for ‘eviscerating’ Boris Johnson, when she grilled the former Prime Minister about whether he exhibited ‘Trump-like behaviour’.
This morning, the Republican leader declared himself the winner of the 2024 election, defeating the Democrat candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris after a close race.
Overnight, Channel 4 hosted coverage of the latest updates of the election with hosts Maitlis and Krishnan Guru-Murthy, as they welcomed guests including Johnson and Stormy Daniels.
During the interview with Johnson, 60, which took place during the portion of the programme which aired between 10pm and midnight, Maitlis, 54, said to the former Prime Minister: ‘You essentially started importing some of that Trump-like behaviour into Britain when you were Prime Minister.
‘His disregard for institutions, his disregard for the rule of law, his denialism, which I think, I guess, was mirrored in your response to the Privileges Committee, your response to the Parliamentary Standards Committee, your proroguing of Parliament. This is all Trump-like behaviour, that you imported into Britain.’
In response, the former Prime Minister decided to plug his book Unleashed – a move that he repeated several times throughout the interview, much to the apparent exasperation of the other people at the table.
‘So there I obviously disagree profoundly, as I detail extensively in Unleashed the book…’ laughing as Maitlis interjected to say: ‘I don’t know why it’s funny. I don’t know why it’s funny. You’ve just heard what he’s like as a character, and I’m asking you…’
‘I don’t accept your analogy at all, I think it’s very dangerous and sloppy to make analogies between the US and the UK in that kind of way,’ he then replied.
Guru-Murthy, 54, chimed in to ask Johnson if he modelled himself after Trump, resulting in the former Mayor of London bringing up Brexit, stating: ‘I think that people compare Brexit with the advent of Donald Trump. Brexit was actually supported by people across the political spectrum.’
‘You’re not answering the question. Just go back to the question,’ Maitlis urged him, prompting him to claim that he was ‘answering the question directly’.
After talking more about Brexit – making Maitlis question why he was doing so – Johnson then spoke about his own experience of interacting with Trump, saying that he has found the US President ‘courteous’ and ‘polite’.
Maitlis retorted: ‘He denied an election that he lost. What does it matter if he’s courteous if he can’t accept the results of democracy and the American voter?’
Johnson revealed that he spoke to Trump recently, ‘not long after he was shot’, before Maitlis asked their guest if Trump winning the election could inspire him to make his own ‘political comeback’.
Yet again, Johnson brought up his book, replying: ‘Emily, the answer is obviously contained in Unleashed, where you will find the full discussion of this subject.’
‘We’re not all going to read your book,’ Maitlis affirmed.
‘Why not?!’ Johnson asked.
Maitlis then asked again: ‘Do you want to have a political comeback?’
Johnson responded: ‘Genuinely, I think the only circumstances in which you should go into politics is if you think you can be… I don’t know why we’re talking about me, we should be talking about the US election for heaven’s sake. It’s far more interesting. Why are we talking about me?’
Not holding back, Maitlis stated: ‘You can’t actually answer a single question,’ to which Johnson replied: ‘Sorry, the answer is you shouldn’t do it unless you think you can be useful. And by the way Emily, I’ve answered all your questions all night.’
Hours later, in the early hours of the morning, it was revealed on the Channel 4 election coverage that it was looking highly likely that the next US President would be Trump.
At this point, it was only Guru-Murthy in the TV studio with several guests, as the former Strictly Come Dancing star informed the channel’s viewers: ‘I’ll tell Emily off later, because I know she started swearing, but… it may be the middle of the night in Britain but they’re still a little sensitive about that stuff.’
On X, several people praised Maitlis for the way that she handled the interview with Johnson, with one user called @implausibleblog saying that she ‘eviscerated’ him.
@deidreheenan added: ‘Deeply disappointed to learn that disgraced liar Boris Johnson was going to be on @Channel4 election coverage, however watching Emily Maitlis completely skewering him is magnificent.’
@holte expressed their joy at watching Maitlis ‘tearing Johnson apart’, writing: ‘Maybe this isn’t a bad watch after all 🍿.’
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‘Loving how Emily Maitlis told Boris Johnson “we’re not going to read your book”,’ @rentonifyable also shared.