In a recent interview, government minister Bim Afolami declined to retract a three-year-old social media post where he criticized Donald Trump as a “cancer” for US politics, despite the possibility of Trump’s return to the White House.
Afolami, who is currently the Treasury Economic Secretary, had posted on X (formerly Twitter) on January 6, 2021, following a mob of Trump supporters storming the US Congress building.
As Trump appears to be closing in on the Republican nomination for a November rematch against Joe Biden, Afolami faced questions about whether he still stands by his previous sentiment.
UK Minister, Sunak (Credits: www.bharatagritech.com)
When asked about the post during an LBC interview, Afolami emphasized the importance of maintaining a strong relationship between the British state and the American government, regardless of who holds office.
He stated, “Well, look, in politics, all sorts of things get said at different times. What’s important is that the British state has a strong relationship with the American government, whoever is in post, and that will continue.”
From three years ago, Afolami’s social media post read, “Trump has been a cancer at the heart of US politics. It is so sad to see the impact on their democracy. I hope it can be repaired.”
Despite being questioned about the post, Afolami said he had not considered removing it. When pressed on the appropriateness of his language, he defended his past remarks, saying, “Well, I think it was just a tweet that reflected how I felt at that particular time.
I think it was appropriate, but what I would also say is that if he were to lead the United States, we will have a very strong relationship with him going forward, and indeed, he’s said lots of things about lots of people in the last few years as well.”
In the lead-up to the upcoming US election, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Cabinet frontbenchers have opted to maintain a neutral stance in public.
