Emily Maitlis praised for slamming Boris Johnson’s ‘Trump-like behaviour’ on US election night

Journalist Emily Maitlis has been praised for “eviscerating” former Prime Minister Boris Johnson during Channel 4’s live coverage of the US election, calling the politician’s behaviour “Trump-like”.

As Kamala Harris and Donald Trump went head-to-head, Emily Maitlis, along with Krishnan Guru-Murthy and a series of guests, including Johnson and Succession actor Brian Cox, discussed the incoming results on a panel show for Channel 4.

Emily Maitlis was praised for “grilling” Johnson during the show, criticising the “Trump-like behaviour” she said he “started importing” while he was in power.

“You essentially started importing some of that Trump-like behaviour in Britain when you were prime minister,” she said, adding: “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 parliament standards committee, your proroguing of parliament. This is all Trump-like behaviour.”

Johnson replied by promoting his book, Unleashed, adding that he “disagreed profoundly” with Maitlis’ statement, and that he feels it is “very dangerous” to compare UK and US politics, before steering the conversation to Brexit.

“I don’t know why you’re talking about Brexit, you know precisely what we’re talking about,” Maitlis explained.

She then asked the 60-year-old politician whether he would be inspired by a Trump victory to launch his own political comeback, to which he plugged his book yet again, saying the answer “is obviously contained” within it.

“We’re not all gonna read your book so just tell us: do you want to have a political comeback?” Maitlis clapped back in what was described as the “line of the night.”

Emily Maitlis eviscerates Boris Johnson

"You started importing that Trump like behaviour into Britain when you were Prime Minister"

"His disregard for institutions. His disregard for the rule of law"

"His denialism.. Mirrored in your response to the Privileges Committee.. Your… pic.twitter.com/Wbh0xbujsH

— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) November 5, 2024

Boris Johnson was remembered for his poor record on LGBTQ+ rights while he was Prime Minister between 2019 and 2022.

While he did back same-sex marriage, he infamously described gay men as “tank-topped bum boys”, and consistently flip-flopped on crucial issues such as conversion therapy. While in office, he promised to ban the cruel practice, but made several U-turns, including deciding not to include trans people in potential protections. He did not manage to pass legislation during his tenure as promised.

Viewers described Emily Maitlis’ grilling of Johnson “cathartic”, with another social media user saying it was “Maitlis at her best.”

“Emily is spot on – Johnson is an English version of Trump,” another added.

Donald Trump wins the 2024 election

After a long and nerve-wracking election night, it was announced that Donald Trump won the 2024 US election, with the former president projected to surpass the 270 electoral college votes needed for a majority.

Trump, who had already declared victory over Kamala Harris after being projected to win key swing states, will now return to the White House alongside running mate JD Vance.

While many news outlets have now called the election for Trump, some results in key swing states have not yet been announced, with Nevada, Arizona, Alaska, Michigan and Maine waiting on results at the time of writing.

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