Psaki laughs at Boris Johnson being ‘ambushed by a cake’ but says UK-US relationship unaffected by Partygate
Ms Psaki laughed after being asked if President Biden has ever been ‘ambushed by a cake’
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Your support makes all the difference.White House press secretary Jen Psaki said she hasn’t discussed UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s “partygate” scandal with President Joe Biden, but stressed Mr Biden’s continued confidence in the UK as a partner in opposing Russia’s continued build-up of troops along its border with Ukraine.
The prime minister is currently reeling from a succession of embarrassing revelations about gatherings held in his 10 Downing Street flat while most British citizens were subject to harsh Covid-19 lockdown regulations.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Johnson arrived in Kiev, where he is set to meet with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to formalise a trilateral defence agreement between the UK, Ukraine and Poland. His trip abroad came just one day after he was lambasted in the House of Commons by members of both his own party and the opposition over the multiple instances in which he ignored rules he had laid out for the rest of the UK.
Asked whether Mr Biden has ever been “ambushed by a cake” – a reference to one of Mr Johnson’s defences against accusations that he held a proscribed party in his flat during lockdown – Ms Psaki laughed the question off.
Pressed further on whether the president harbours concern about whether Mr Johnson’s domestic troubles could harm his effectiveness as a leader in efforts to combat Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the White House press secretary said she has not discussed the Prime Minister’s domestic troublers with her boss.
She added that Mr Biden “is confident in the important partnership we have with the United Kingdom [and] the role they play as an important partner in making clear to Russia the unacceptable nature of the buildup of troops and their bellicose rhetoric as it relates to Ukraine”.
“That certainly has not changed despite cakes in anyone’s faces,” she added.
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