Former Tory leader Boris Johnson has brazenly claimed that broadcaster Emily Maitlis was getting "pretty revved up" during the Channel 4 coverage of the US election, right before his sudden departure from the panel.
The ex-PM insists he had to leave Washington because of flight arrangements, this coming after co-host Krishnan Guru-Murthy suggested he was "fired" for incessantly plugging his new memoir on air.
"I had the great privilege of spending US election night with Emily Maitlis as she began her gradual descent into madness," Johnson wrote in his Daily Mail column. He regretted missing out on the exciting part of the broadcast, saying: "Unfortunately, I had to leave the Channel 4 studio early – to catch a plane back from Washington to London."
He added that he didn't witness Maitlis's frustration as states turned Republican red and remarks he could see her starting to get wound up. The memorable spat occurred live when Maitlis probed Boris about mirroring Trump's political revival, leading to a plug of his book 'Unleashed'.
Maitlis confronted him: "We are not all going to read your book, so just tell us, do you want to have a political comeback... You can’t actually answer a single question." To which Johnson replied affirmatively about engaging in his book promotion, leaving politics temporarily aside: "By the way Emily I’ve answered all your questions all night. Currently I am blissfully engaged promoting my book Unleashed, available in all good book stores."
After being challenged, Mr Johnson asserted: "Here is Channel 4 news, run by Ian Katz, sitting here doing the same old stunt that you tried in 2004 taking a massively skewed approach to a US election." He added, "I’m not standing for election here."
In the broadcast, Stormy Daniels, the woman embroiled in Mr Trump’s hush money scandal, put Mr Johnson on the spot, asking if he would leave his daughter alone with Donald Trump after he spoke of their friendship. "I don’t see why not... yes," Mr Johnson responded at the time, calling his interactions with Trump "courteous" and "polite".
Reflecting in his newspaper column, Mr Johnson noted: "Having thought about it I should say that I would certainly be a bit worried about leaving the President-elect alone with some of my progeny – but only out of concern for the personal safety of Donald Trump." A representative for Maitlis has been asked to comment.
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