[ad_1]
Joe Biden, who will replace Donald Trump next January, named Antony Blinken as his pick for secretary of state. Blinken has been a longtime confidant of the president-elect and has also expressed highly critical views on Brexit.
Blinken, who served as deputy national security adviser in the administration of President Barack Obama, once described Britain’s decision to leave the EU as a “total disaster” and compared it to the rise of the far-right Marine Le Pen in France.
Speaking on the Podcast Save the World, the American previously described the UK’s handling of Brexit as “the dog that got the car and then the car backs up and runs over the dog. It’s a total disaster. “
He said that “our interests would have been in keeping Britain.”
Readers of Express.co.uk have reacted furiously to the news, as the UK has yet to reach a post-Brexit trade deal with the US.
But many readers were optimistic that the Biden presidency would not thwart the UK’s success once it left the EU.
One person wrote: “Biden can choose who he wants, it won’t make any difference to the UK, trade is trade and we have the rest of the world plus four years is not long to wait until Biden is history.
Another said: “Good for him … I hope he’s very happy with his friend who hates Brexit …
“In the meantime, the UK keeps making progress without the help of this idiot!”
FAIR IN: Brexit Fisheries Dispute: EU Fishermen Fear ‘We Will Go Bankrupt’
One reader said the UK should not fear Blinken’s appointment and suggested the UK should completely shed hopes of a trade deal with the US.
They wrote, “Are we supposed to be afraid of this person?
“If that’s the intention then it failed dramatically and to be honest I wouldn’t want a deal with Biden or the Democrats, too biased for me and sensible folks!”
Another person suggested that Blinken will be “powerless” to act on his anti-Brexit views.
They wrote: “Yes, Blinken may express his displeasure, but he is ultimately powerless to affect any significant political change in the UK, but his beliefs are welcome.”
Boris Johnson has so far sought to prioritize a free trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the United States.
But his efforts may be about to hit a brick wall, as Biden opposes Brexit and has reservations about the Prime Minister, whom he once likened to a “physical and emotional clone” of Trump.
The president-elect is likely to forge closer ties with the EU during his tenure, potentially hampering the UK’s attempts to secure a prosperous trade deal with the US.
[ad_2]
