Wes Streeting’s scathing critique of Donald Trump has come back to haunt him after he was put on the spot about a tweet in which he branded the former US President an “odious, sad little man”.
America goes to the polls today, with Republican Mr Trump neck and neck with Democrat rival Kamala Harris. Bookmaker Betfair makes him the favourite to win, and is offering odds of 4/6 – representing a 60 percent chance of his victory.
The Health Secretary squirmed as he was questioned during an appearance on Good Morning Britain earlier today, with host Richard Madeley saying: “If he wins, now is the Government going to deal with the incredibly personal critique that now front-benchers have made when they were in opposition?”
He then confronted Mr Streeting with a post from 2017 in which the then-backbench MP said: “Trump is such an odious, sad, little man. Imagine being proud to have that as your President.”
Mr Madeley asked: “How would you deal with President-elect Trump, who has a very long memory for stuff like that?”
An awkward looking Mr Streeting replied: “The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have been working hard to build a relationship with President Trump and his team, so that in the event that he is elected as the next president of the United States, we start with the strong working relationship which is in our national interest and in the interests of the United States as well.
“And it’s not often I would pray and aid Nigel Farage, the leader of the Reform Party but, as he said overnight, President Trump, you know, he speaks as he finds.
“He had a very good meeting with Keir Starmer not too long ago, and of course, he’ll be aware of things that we’ve we’ve all said in the past…”
Asked about similar hostile remarks about Mr Trump made by David Lammy, Mr Streeting continued: “If you look at the Foreign Secretary’s relationship with people around Donald Trump, including his vice presidential nominee, the relationships are strong.
“And the important thing about this relationship, this transatlantic relationship, is one of the most important alliances that Britain has.
“We have shared values and shared strategic interests, and with war on our continent, in Ukraine, war in the Middle East and wider geopolitical threats, it is in the UK and United States’ national interests to work closely together.
“That won’t change, whoever the occupant of the Oval Office is, and we only have hours now to wait until polls close.”
Betfair makings Mr Trump favourite to win in five of the seven key swing states which are likely to decide the election, including Pennsylvania. If they are correct, it would be difficult to see past a Trump victory.
Similarly, Ladbrokes makes Mr Trump the clear favourite at 8/13, offering odds of 11/8 on Ms Harris.
