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Friends or not? Emmanuel Macron and Boris Johnson at the G7 summit in Elmau in June 2022

Photo: BENOIT TESSIER / REUTERS

Boris Johnson's history, which is full of scandals and scandals, could possibly be extended by a new chapter. Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is said to have used crude language at French President Emmanuel Macron in the days after the start of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, according to an ex-adviser.

Johnson's former communications director, Guto Harri, recounts in a podcast published on Thursday what Johnson is said to have said at a morning meeting of British officials. Specifically, a "four-letter word that begins with C" was said about Macron, Harri said. He was alluding to a British swear word that both refers to the female sexual organ and is used as a personal insult.

Johnson also called Macron a "nutcase" and "Putin's spit-licker" in a "violent outburst," Harri said.

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The former BBC journalist worked for the British prime minister from February 2022 until Johnson's resignation in September. In his new podcast "Unprecedented", he also reported on Johnson's statement that what was needed was an "of beatings for the frogs" (a swear word used in Great Britain for the French), in which he would "turn off the lights with a punch" from Macron.

No statement from Johnson's spokesman

His ex-adviser explained Johnson's outburst of anger as an example of "really dark gallows humor" that was "obviously a coping mechanism" for the enormously tense situation at the time. Harri went on to say that Johnson began his rant after Macron publicly accused him in a newspaper interview of taking in too few refugees from Ukraine in the country. Macron's attempts to mediate with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which the British prime minister found "disgusting", also contributed to Johnson's anger.

According to AFP, a spokesman for Johnson declined to comment on Harri's statements, but underlined that the former prime minister had not taken part in the podcast.

After all, according to Harri, the British ex-prime minister and Macron are said to have reconciled later. "They drank a whisky together at a G7 summit (...) and said 'Mon ami' and 'enchanté Emmanuel' to each other." Johnson had invited Macron to London to "show the world that our male friendship is alive".

mar/AFP