NAccording to a former adviser, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson rudely insulted French President Emmanuel Macron in the days after Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine began. At the beginning of March 2022, Johnson gave Macron a “four-letter word that begins with C” in his presence, said Johnson’s former adviser Guto Harri in a podcast published on Thursday. Harri was referring to the British swear word “cunt”, which both refers to the female sex organ and is used as a personal insult.
In a “violent outburst”, Johnson also described Macron as a “crazy” and “Putin’s toady”, Harri said. The former BBC journalist, who worked for the British Prime Minister from February 2022 until Johnson’s resignation in September, also reported on his new podcast “Unprecedented” on Johnson’s statement that what was needed was a “fighting spree for the frogs” (a swear word used in Britain for French), where he would “shut off the light with a fist punch” for Macron.
His ex-advisor explained Johnson’s outburst as an example of “really dark gallows humor” that was “obviously a coping mechanism” for the enormously tense situation at the time. Harri said Johnson began his tirade after Macron publicly accused him in a newspaper interview of not taking in enough Ukrainian refugees in the country. In addition, Macron’s attempts to mediate with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which the British Prime Minister found “disgusting”, contributed to Johnson’s anger.
A spokesman for Johnson declined to comment on Harri’s statements – but underlined that the former prime minister did not take part in the podcast.
After all: According to Harri, the British ex-Prime Minister and Macron are said to have later reconciled. “They drank a whiskey together at a G7 summit (…) and said ‘Mon ami’ and ‘enchanté Emmanuel’ to each other”. Johnson invited Macron to London to “show the world that our male friendship lives”.
