Why did some of the UK’s worst political rejects like Johnson and Truss spend the week parading about the RNC?
Napoleon had the island of Saint Helena, Leon Trotsky had various spots across Turkey, Norway and Mexico. These days political exiles from the UK all appear to end up in a far more desolate place: The Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Among the crowds of US political bigwigs, state delegates and zealous supporters of Donald Trump, several familiar British faces have appeared – usually with the prefix of “former” before their job title – to rub shoulders with the GOP elite.
At the 2024 convention, where Trump officially accepted the Republican presidential nomination and selected JD Vance as his running mate, a rollcall of infamous names from across the pond dropped by to pay their respects.
The former UK prime minister and Donald Trump were pictured together at the RNC on Tuesday, with Johnson’s trademark disheveledness standing in stark contrast to Trump’s polished veneers and white ear bandage.
“Great to meet President Trump who is on top form after the shameful attempt on his life,” Johnson wrote on X. “We discussed Ukraine and I have no doubt that he will be strong and decisive in supporting that country and defending democracy.”
The former prime minister has kept a relatively low profile in the UK since his less than graceful departure from Number 10 Downing street in July 2022 following a spate of domestic political scandals.
He and Trump worked together for just over a year, their respective times in office overlapping from July 2019 to November 2020, and shared an ostensibly cordial relationship. The pair shared certain similarities including famously bizarre hair, a penchant for incendiary rhetoric, and a propensity towards the outrageous.
In fact, the former president himself once proudly referred to Johnson as “Britain Trump” and hailed him as “tough and smart.”
“Boris is good. He’s going to do a good job,” Trump said in 2019, following Johnson’s election as Tory party leader.
This friendly alliance is seemingly going strong, at least according to Johnson. His praise of the former president comes in stark contrast to the endorsement (or lack of) afforded his former Chancellor-turned-rival Rishi Sunak, to whom Johnson offered little support to, ahead of the UK election earlier this month.
Another infamous former prime minister, Liz Truss, also made her presence known in Wisconsin.
“Great to be at @RNC in Milwaukee seeing President Trump get nominated. The leadership the West needs,” she posted on X on Monday, following up with a collection of pictures of her signing fan merchandise and meeting Trump’s newly selected running mate JD Vance. “A true conservative and what America needs,” she wrote.
Americans may remember Truss as the woman who left office before the shelf-life of a head of lettuce.
At just 49 days, hers was the shortest time in office of any previous UK PM, though she has since set her sights on conquering America, making several appearances at GOP events alongside infamous figures as Steve Bannon – Trump’s currently incarcerated former chief strategist.
Earlier this year she appeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland where she gave a speech in which she claimed that the “deep state” had thwarted her plans, and decried the CINOs – Conservatives in Name Only – and promoted her book, Ten Years To Save The West.
“Conservatives are now operating in what is a hostile environment and we essentially need a bigger bazooka in order to be able to deliver,” Truss said in a 15-minute speech entitled Taking Back Our Parties.
Like Johnson, Truss now has more time on her hands to mingle with the GOP elite, having lost her seat in parliament in the constituency of South West Norfolk, in the UK General Election on July 4. Unlike Johnson, Truss was not gifted the golden goose of a picture with the former president himself at the RNC.
Despite dancing in and out of the spotlight in British and European politics, Nigel Farage has remained a regular, and even popular face to the US right. He has appeared multiple times at CPAC and was once hailed by Trump at a rally as “one of the most powerful men in Europe.”
A picture of the pair, standing grinning broadly in front of the golden elevator doors of Trump Tower also previously went viral.
However, just how close the two are nowadays is unsure. Speaking to The Independent from the RNC, Farage said he was there because of “a friend who’s been through a tough time,” later making similar comments to UK journalist Emily Maitlis.
“I had to come, I’ve been friendly with Trump all these years,” he told her, in an interview for The NewsAgents podcast. “He’s just survived an assassination attempt so I thought I’d come and say hello.”
Asked if Trump himself had invited him to come to Wisconsin, Farage hesitated, before admitting it was “the people around him that thought it was the right thing that I came… it was right that I came… I have friends, I don’t know if you do or not, maybe you don’t, but when they’re having a tough time it’s right to go and support them.”
It is unclear whether Farage and Trump met up during the 2024 RNC.
In the run up to Trump’s 2020 election, Farage was a regular at rallies: the former president also drew regularly comparisons between Brexit, which Farage had led, and his own election campaign.
Russell Brand
The comedian and actor Russell Brand was spotted outside the grounds of the RNC on Wednesday morning, after previously telling his sizeable internet following that he was traveling to Milwaukee to interview high profile figures at the convention.
Brand reportedly did two stand-up comedy shows earlier in the week and published several videos throughout the week including a sit-down with Eric Trump, the former’s president’s son, during which he discussed the assassination attempt on his father.
Brand has kept a low-profile in the UK ever since multiple allegations of sexual assault against him emerged last September. The actor was accused of rape and emotionally abusing four women between 2006 and 2013 at the height of his fame. Brand has vehemently denied all wrongdoing. Since then, his operations have gone largely online, with videos and livestreams on YouTube and Rumble.
He also previously appeared in a sit down interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson – a known friend and associate of Trump, in which he said it was “very, very painful” to be accused of “the most appalling crimes”.
Carlson himself, who was fired abruptly from Fox in April 2023 following the settling of a major defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems, was pictured at the RNC on Wednesday evening.
