Channel 4 made a big mistake by bringing Boris Johnson on for its US election coverage

It apparently wasn’t enough that shops have been plastering Boris Johnson’s face everywhere by selling his new book. Because Channel 4 thought it would be a good idea to bring the liar and pandemic criminal onto its US election coverage show on 5 November. And no one came out of it looking good.

Maybe Channel 4 thought it could get a ‘gotcha’ moment. Perhaps it just thought Johnson could bring in the ratings. But it demeaned itself by having him on the show, where he tried to plug his book as much as he could. Co-host Krishnan Guru-Murthy later said the show had “fired” him “for banging on about his book”.

Boris Johnson 'fired' for promoting his book, elated Trump supporters in Florida and downbeat Dems in Washington – here's how the #C4AmericaDecides has unfolded so far.

Watch NOW on @channel4 until 6am. #USAElections2024 pic.twitter.com/rHAkHHOuVu

— Channel 4 (@Channel4) November 6, 2024

Boris Johnson on Channel 4: it was always going to be awful

Boris Johnson’s friend and ideological bedfellow Donald Trump won the 2024 election in the wake of a Biden-Harris economic record that didn’t translate to enough change for voters, for whom the economy was the top issue.

The Biden-Harris administration’s unconditional support for the genocide in Gaza didn’t exactly help to inspire voters with hope, either. With those two issues looming heavy over the election, enough people overlooked the awfulness of Trump, including the many sex-crime allegations against him. And this is something Johnson also overlooked on Channel 4.

When Stormy Daniels said she had worn a bulletproof vest to get to court safely in her case against Trump, Johnson showed some sympathy but claimed [1:18] “I don’t know the ins and out of much of what’s happened”.

And when Daniels asked him if he himself would leave his daughter alone with Trump, he said “I don’t see why not”. He added that the man the world knows for consistent racist and sexist comments and actions “has been courteous” and “polite”. A powerful white man would say that, though, of course.

Stormy Daniels, "would you leave your daughter alone with Donald Trump?"

"Yes" says Boris Johnson adding "he has been courteous and polite".

Watch #C4AmericaDecides NOW on @channel4 until 6am. pic.twitter.com/xWJqkGVX2q

— Channel 4 (@Channel4) November 5, 2024

Channel 4‘s decision to platform Boris Johnson came despite his past hostility to the channel and efforts in government to sell it off.

A simple piece of advice for Channel 4 in the future. Don’t demean yourselves by giving a platform to a misogynistic liar.

Featured image via the Canary