Psaki confirms that Biden has never been ‘ambushed by cake’ after being question on Boris Johnson’s ‘PartyGate’ scandal and whether it impacts the situation with Russia
- Jen Psaki said President Biden has never been ambushed by birthday cake
- She was asked about the controversial parties at Number 10 Downing Street, including a birthday bash for Prime Minister Boris Johnson
- ‘Has the president ever been ambushed by cake? Not that I’m aware of,’ Psaki said at her daily press briefing
- The UK was under strict COVID lockdown rules when Downing Street staff held gatherings with alcohol
- The ensuing fallout of ‘PartyGate’ has endangered Johnson’s prime ministership
- Psaki said she has not spoken to Biden about ‘PartyGate’
- She stressed U.S./UK have an ‘important partnership,’ particularly on Ukraine
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Tuesday said President Joe Biden has never been ambushed by a cake as she responded to a question on the controversial parties at Number 10 Downing Street, including a birthday bash for Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
‘Has the president ever been ambushed by cake? Not that I’m aware of,’ Psaki said at her daily press briefing.
A UK government official said Johnson was ‘ambushed’ with a birthday cake while working at Number 10 after it was revealed the PM attended a gathering, complete with a Union Jack cake and singing, that was organized by his wife Carrie in the Cabinet Room on June 19, 2020. That was the date of his 56th birthday.
The UK was under strict COVID lockdown rules at the time and the ensuing fallout of ‘PartyGate’ has endangered Johnson’s prime ministership.
Psaki didn’t comment on ‘PartyGate’ but did stress the U.S. and UK have an ‘important partnership’ and praised the British for their help with the situation in the Ukraine.
She also said she hasn’t spoken with President Biden about Johnson’s career-threatening scandal.
‘I have not spoken with him specifically about the reports in the UK. But what I can tell you is that he is confident in the important partnership we have with the United Kingdom – the role they play as an important partner and making clear to Russia the unacceptable nature of the buildup of troops and their bellicose rhetoric as it relates to Ukraine. And that certainly has not changed despite cakes in anyone’s faces,’ Psaki said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden has never been ambushed by a cake as she responded to a question on the controversial parties at Number 10 Downing Street, including a birthday bash for Prime Minister Boris Johnson
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said she has not spoken to President Joe Biden about the ‘PartyGate’ scandal in the UK that has threatened Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s career
A UK government official said Prime Minister Boris Johnson was ‘ambushed’ with a birthday cake, noting PM was just in the room working when staff brought him the treat
Last week Northern Ireland Minister Conor Burns defended Johnson, saying the PM was ‘ambushed’ with a birthday bash as outrage grew among the British public over reports of at least 12 parties during lockdown, three of which were attended by Johnson.
Burns explained the PM was working in the room before people came in and presented him with the baked treat, adding: ‘He, as far as I can see, he was in a sense, ambushed with a cake.’
An investigation by the British government found that Downing Street suffers from a culture of ‘excessive’ workplace drinking that led to social gatherings during the COVID pandemic lockdowns.
‘There were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No. 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times,’ wrote senior civil servant Sue Gray in her report. ‘Some of the events should not have been allowed to take place. Other events should not have been allowed to develop as they did.’
The British public was outraged over reports Number 10 staff held gatherings – complete with alcohol and snacks – with colleagues during a period when the government was urging the public to avoid socializing, even with close friends and family.
Johnson’s government was accused of a double standard and commentators on social media went wild.
In what was seen as an attempt to change the subject, Johnson was in the Ukraine on Tuesday to show his support to President Volodymyr Zelensky as thousands of Russian troops lined up on the border.
Before his trip, he sheepishly apologised to Members of Parliament during a brutal House of Commons session after Gray’s report was released. Her report was scrubbed of its most potentially damaging findings at the request of London’s Metropolitan Police, which launched their own investigation last week.
The PM appears to be surviving the scandal for now but has been scrambling to avoid a vote of no-confidence in his leadership by his Conservative party members. The vote would be called if 54 members submit confidential letters demanding it but that hasn’t yet happened.
In what was seen as an attempt to change the subject, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was in the Ukraine on Tuesday to show his support to President Volodymyr Zelensky
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, leaving Number 10 Downing Street last week, has found his prime ministership in question after the reports of staff parties during a COVID lockdown
But news outlets around the world ripped into the PM as did a slew of Tory MPs, including former Prime Minister Theresa May, who publicly decried Johnson’s behaviour and accused him of running Number 10 like a ‘medieval court.’
Some of Europe’s largest newspapers questioned whether Johnson would be able to save himself after ‘a lifetime of breaking the rules’, while others skipped straight to listing his would-be successors and accused him of leveraging the crisis in Ukraine to deflect from domestic chaos.
Newspapers in Spain, France and Germany had a field day.
The Russian media were among the most critical of the PM, focusing on Johnson’s postponement of a scheduled phonecall with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
Johnson was set to speak with Putin to discuss the tension in Ukraine, but ultimately snubbed the Russian strongman as he scrambled to deal with the domestic catastrophe in the wake of Gray’s preliminary report on the ‘PartyGate’ atmosphere at Number 10.
Russia’s news channel NTV revelled in the Prime Minister’s discomfort, branding him ‘the most disliked, disrespected and ridiculed character in Britain’ who was ‘completely under the control and heel of his young wife’ Carrie.
NTV’s London correspondent went on to declare the Partygate report would have ended up in the ‘Victorian sewers’ of the capital if it were up to the PM, and said that ‘even schoolchildren are laughing at him.’
However, Johnson will reveal if he has been hit with a fine for breaching COVID rules, Downing Street said.
There had been concerns that the public would never officially be told if the Prime Minister was issued with a fixed penalty notice for attending a Number 10 party, because the identity of people issued with a ticket is not usually disclosed by police.
But Downing Street acknowledged the ‘significant public interest’ in the case of the Prime Minister.
Officers are investigating 12 separate gatherings in No 10 and Whitehall during 2020 and 2021 – including three that Johnson is known to have attended and one in the Prime Minister’s Downing Street flat – to find out whether coronavirus lockdown laws were broken.
Downing Street had originally insisted it was a matter for the Metropolitan Police to decide whether to name those found to have broken the law.
Scotland Yard pointed to College of Policing guidance stating that the names of people dealt with by fixed penalty notices – the likely punishment for a breach of the coronavirus regulations – would not normally be disclosed.
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