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‘The UK is f***ed’: John Oliver says Boris Johnson is ‘full of s***’ in damning monologue

The host believes Johnson will be ‘terrible’ at the job

Jacob Stolworthy
Monday 29 July 2019 09:08 BST
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John Oliver explains why Boris Johnson will fail as UK's new prime minister

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John Oliver tore the UK’s new prime minister Boris Johnson apart on the latest episode of his HBO series.

Five days after Johnson was announced as Theresa May’s replacement, Oliver said: “Unfortunately, the UK is about to be completely f***ed.”

The host accused the political figure of “carefully calculating” his “bumbling Brit” persona and combatted headlines calling Johnson the “British Trump” as false because he’s “more complex” than the US president.

To back up his point, Oliver showed a clip of an interview that sees Johnson admit he often acts clueless so that people are unsure whether or not he’s joking about.

“He presents his own lack of of preparation so charmingly that you actually doubt he is unprepared – but he is,” Oliver said. “Can you imagine Trump having that level of self-reflection?”

Oliver also pointed out that Johnson was fired from The Times for writing false headlines and highlighted several racist and homophobic comments he’s made in the past.

“He’s made repeated references to some immigrants as people who want to ‘leech off the state’; he said the people of Congo had ‘watermelon smiles’; he’s called gay men ‘tank-topped bumboys’.”

Oliver also reminded viewers that Johnson said women in burkas “looked like letterboxes”, commenting: “That is an appalling comment that leaves a truly disgusting taste in your mouth.”

He revealed he doesn’t fancy Johnson’s chances of overseeing Brexit negotiations successfully.

“[His] lack of attention to detail for a process that has the potential to impact millions of people is really alarming and there is no reason for much hope here, because all of the skills that have helped Johnson to become prime minister will not paper over all the deficits that are going to make him terrible at that job,” Oliver said.

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