Boris Johnson was repeatedly asked to stop ‘banging on about his book’ before being replaced on Channel 4’s live coverage of the US election.
The world will find out who is to be the next president of the United States tonight, with Channel 4 airing overnight coverage of a US election for the first time since 1992.
But producers may well now be regretting their decision to invite former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the show.
Just a couple of minutes into the programme, titled America Decides: US Presidential Election, Johnson began ‘shamelessly’ promoting his new memoir – and he couldn’t be stopped.
He was told to ‘put it away’ and ‘stop it, enough’ by co-host Krishnan Guru-Murthy as he twice referenced the new 784-page book, called Unleashed. He even brought a copy of the memoir to the studio to show off to viewers.
Guru-Murthy called the former PM’s actions ‘so cheap,’ prompting Johnson to retort: ‘There’s absolutely nothing you can do to stop me… I’m allowed to plug my book.’
Johnson, indeed, continued to ‘bang on’ about his memoir, even when asked to comment on pressing issues.
At one point, he was questioned about the possibility of making a Trump-esque political comeback, to which he replied: ‘The answer is obviously contained in Unleashed where you’ll find the full discussion of the subject.’
Co-host Emily Maitlis told him: ‘We are not going to read your book, so just tell us, do you want to have a political comeback… you can’t actually answer a single question.’
But Johnson insisted: ‘By the way Emily I’ve answered all your questions all night. Currently I am blissfully engaged promoting my book Unleashed, available in all good book stores.’
Johnson also mentioned a meeting that he had with Donald Trump after this year’s first assassination attempt on the presidential candidate back in July.
But he ended up promoting his book again, stating: ‘In case I failed to mention this, I am promoting my book Unleashed, and I had a talk with him about Ukraine.’
Channel 4 eventually replaced the former Prime Minister with Michael Cohen, a former lawyer for Trump, though it is uncertain whether Johnson’s exit was planned or not.
Viewers were left confused by Johnson’s appearance – and they let it be known on social media.
Simon deBrux posted on X: ‘Boris Johnson has only been on the C4 US election programme for five minutes but has plugged his book twice.’
And Land of Tope and Dory wrote: ‘Boris Johnson’s got a lot of money, by fair means or foul, it tells you a lot about his character that he’s prepared to demean himself publicly in order to shamelessly plug his crappy book at every opportunity.’
Johnson’s memoir was released last month, selling 42,528 copies in its opening week – which was reportedly ‘well below expectations.’
Brian and Boris clash
The former Prime Minister was joined on the Channel 4 show by a host of TV stars, including Caitlyn Jenner, Stormy Daniels and Succession actor Brian Cox – who he was involved in a heated debate with.
The former PM and the Scotsman clashed over the prospect of Trump’s return to office, with Cox branding the former president a ‘monster.’
He said: ‘It’s the most crucial election in my lifetime… we have to make sure that (Donald Trump) doesn’t get in because he is a monster. He really is.
‘He’s crazy, he’s insane, he wants to be a dictator. It’s all been so clear, I don’t know why the American people aren’t listening. Some of the American people are, but a lot aren’t.
‘The kind of nonsense he’s been talking… I think he’s lost it. He’s deeply mentally unstable and I think he has been for quite some time. This is not a man who should be president of the United States.
‘He’s unreliable, he’s a convicted felon, I’m horrified.’
Johnson, though, claimed that Trump’s views on the Ukraine-Russia war would change if he is re-elected.
He argued: ‘I think he will come to it and he will see that if he surrenders, if he allows Putin to win – for his pride, for his ego, it’s a disaster for America, it’s a disaster for the world.
‘You can say that I’m wrong and I’m starry eyed, and it’s not going to work out like that, and he’ll find a way of surrendering to Putin that somehow protects his reputation, his legacy. I don’t see how you do that – it’s a pretty unpolishable turd to be frank.
‘I think when you look at what Donald Trump did in office on the foreign policy front, which is obviously what I care about as the former UK Prime Minister – from the Abraham accords to Ukraine and Iran – you can make a very strong case that he bought peace and relative stability.’
Johnson called the Republican ‘polite and courteous,’ but did admit that as a British Conservative, he disagrees with Trump’s positions on female reproduction health, gun controls and tariffs.
The debate was concluded with Cox, who has won two BAFTA awards, being asked whether he would ever want to play the former president in a film.
He responded: ‘It’s a terribly bad part, nobody would want to play Donald Trump because it’s such a terrible role… how do you find any redeeming feature in the human being.’
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