British Prime Minister Boris Johnson congratulated Joe Biden for being the apparent winner of the 2020 presidential election, but an image of the congratulatory message carried a statement with leftover applause for President Trump.
“As you’d expect, two statements were prepared in advance for the outcome of this closely contested election,” a United Kingdom government spokesman explained. “A technical error meant that parts of the alternative message were embedded in the background of the graphic.”
The retouched graphic thus displayed not only congratulations for Biden, but also the remnants of a message that would have been released if the elections in key battleground states had ended differently, as sharp-eyed British media observers noted. The errant graphic was tweeted several days after the election, as European allies slowly moved to embrace Biden in defiance of Trump’s insistence that the outcome remains in doubt.
“Congratulations to Joe Biden on his election as president of the United States and to Kamala Harris on her historic achievement,” Johnson’s statement said. “This US is our most important ally and I look forward to working closely together on our shared priorities, from climate change to trade and security.”
The Biden-oriented statement highlights the issues that Johnson’s team hopes will provide the foundation for cooperation between London and Washington after years of Brexit serving as a basis for an affinity between the British government and Trump. The errant graphic showed faint text of Trump’s name and alternative “shared priorities” that would have remained at the fore if Trump had won.
“The reality is, I think is that environmentalism offers the U.K. a way back towards a closer relationship with the Biden White House,” British Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Tugendhat said recently. “If we’re sensible, we will see the U.K. offering the Biden White House a very generous share of the COP26 talks in order to bring them in.”
The two sides may have to overcome lingering resentment of Johnson’s government felt by alumni of former President Barack Obama’s administration.
“This shapeshifting creep weighs in,” former White House National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor tweeted. “We will never forget your racist comments about Obama and slavish devotion to Trump but neat Instagram graphic.”
Johnson had a do-over Tuesday when he congratulated Biden by phone.
“I look forward to strengthening the partnership between our countries and to working with him on our shared priorities — from tackling climate change, to promoting democracy and building back better from the pandemic,” he tweeted after the call.
