BBC Newsnight trolls Liz Truss with Rihanna tribute and it’s perfection
LGBTQ+ advocates have called on Liz Truss to “build bridges” with the queer community after she was elected the new Conservative Party leader. (Getty)
Coverage of Liz Truss’ resignation on BBC Newsnight and Channel 4 have been both impressive – and more than a little bit sassy.
In further proof that the UK is simply one large meme, both programmes ended with a musical montage of Truss’s premiership, BBC set to Rihanna’s “Take a Bow” and Channel 4 to Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space”, respectively.
Both edits have been posted to Twitter to general hilarity.
The first chorus of Rihanna’s smash hit opens with the words: “You look so dumb right now, standing outside my house.”
These words play over Liz Truss stood outside Number 10 Downing Street, giving her resignation speech. It’s hard to see a time where life imitated art any more closely, to be honest.
A Rihanna track to Newsnight? Yes please. pic.twitter.com/wvEZxZjK1G
— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) October 20, 2022
“You put on quite a show,” plays as newspaper headlines describing the chaos of Liz Truss’s era (if 45 days counts as such) float across the screen.
One user wrote: “Is this some kind of fever dream? That was brutal.”
“The way I’m snorting through my cry-laughing” added another.
A third wrote: “Newsnight is an icon, a legend and they are the moment”
However, it seems that the fan favourite montage is that of Channel 4’s “Blank Space” – a song which Truss recently said was her favourite.
Here's the full clip of how Channel 4 News ended this evening. "I've got a blank space baby, and I'll write your name." pic.twitter.com/GDjzoZtmoX— feelinglistless(dot)bsky(dot)social🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ (@feelinglistless) October 20, 2022
Following much the same pattern as the BBC’s tribute, it depicts the abject chaos of Liz Truss’s leadership campaign, subsequent premiership and very *swift* departure from power, also touching on the sacking of chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.
“You can tell me when it’s over, if the high was worth the pain” sings Swift. From where we’re sitting, the answer seems to be “no”.
The montage has been hailed as: “Impeccable editing” by one Twitter user.
Another wrote: “To the international crowd, once again, yes… this really happened on the national news.”
Liz Truss became the shortest serving prime minister the UK has ever had after her premiership lasted just 45 days.
For context, that’s shorter than a season of Love Island, the amount of days Kim Kardashian was married the Kris Humphries and the roll-out for Taylor Swift’s latest album, Midnights.
