But with the Baby Trump balloons and the tens of thousands showing up at protests, it leaves me with the impression their distaste for Trump is more of a personal nature.
Oh and by the way, I’d like to give a tip of the hat to my friends across the pond. You guys know how to snark WAY better than us Yanks.
I assume hating the US president (in a mundane, almost joyful way) is kind of the default for the UK public – Obama was an abberation due to his political skills and charisma. Trump’s personally disgusting nature and extreme hateability just takes it up to 11.
With the notable exception of Obama, most Brits seem to dislike/hate American politicians in general. They don’t even like Canada’s leader. This survey found 21% approved of Trump.
*"U.K. support of almost every other foreign politician outside of Obama was notably low. In second place among public popularity is Hillary Clinton, who only enjoyed favorable opinions among 29 percent of U.K. residents in the YouGov surveys. Just behind her in third place was Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who also only had a 29 percent favorable rating.
Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders ranked below Trump in the U.K. in terms of positive opinions, with only 19 percent expressing a favorable rating."*
No idea what’s got their kippers in a twist about U.S. political figures.
Confidence in Trump is higher in the UK than some other European countries. Here’s some data from 2018 on the question of “confidence in the U.S. president to do the right thing regarding world affairs”.
UK: 28%
Germany: 10%
France: 9%
Spain: 7%
A graph in the link shows the stark difference between European views of Obama, who they had overwhelmingly confidence in, and G.W. Bush and Trump, who they most certainly did/do not.
Poor confidence in Trump is not confined to Europeans, and is mirrored on a global scale. A 2017 global poll found “a median of just 22% has confidence in Trump to do the right thing when it comes to international affairs”. This compares to a 64% rate of confidence for his predecessor Barack Obama.
The evidence would suggest that the question should not be “why is Trump hated so much in X”, but rather, “why is Trump not hated so much in some parts of America”?
While he may not be a “complete” buffoon, like Trump, the fact that Boris Johnson is the favorite to become the next British Prime Minister shows that being a buffoon is not seen, by British voters, as an impediment to reaching the highest office.
The electorates that could make Johnson the next PM aren’t at all representative of the entire UK. Mind you, his parliamentary constituents voted for him, and so did London for his stint as Mayor, so point taken.
Baron, you’re in Scotland. Down here in the south it feels as if Johnson is unstoppable. I feel sick.
On that subject - back to Trump. Just an opinion, but as far as this country goes I think there’s something for everyone to hate. The left hate him because he is of the far right. Moderates hate him because he’s an extreminst. And the right hate him because he’s a foreigner (and what’s more an upstart American). Greens hate him for his environmental policies. Populists hate everyone who isn’t one of their own.
I kept hearing that there would be “massive” rallies against me in the UK, but it was quite the opposite. The big crowds, which the Corrupt Media hates to show, were those that gathered in support of the USA and me. They were big & enthusiastic as opposed to the organized flops!