Former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson now is defending Donald Trump's actions on Jan. 6, 2021, telling Times Radio he doesn't think the former president "intended to overthrow the Constitution and what actually happened was the peaceful transfer of democratic power from one administration to another."
On the day after the incident, Johnson said Trump was "completely wrong" to cast doubt on the U.S. election and encourage supporters "to storm the Capitol."
"As you say, in so far as he encouraged people to storm the Capitol, and in so far as the president has consistently cast doubt on the outcome of a free and fair election, I believe that was completely wrong," he said at the time.
"I believe what President Trump has been saying about that has been completely wrong, and I unreservedly condemn encouraging people to behave in the disgraceful way that they did in the Capitol."
Johnson, whose new book, "Unleashed," was released Thursday, also told the Times it was "credible" to claim that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine had Trump been president in 2022.
"I think that some of the pessimism [about Trump] is overdone, and I think that Donald, actually, he gave the Javelins [anti-tank weapons] to the Ukrainians where the Democrats didn't, right?
"When I was foreign secretary, he kicked out those Russian spies, 60 of them. So he can surprise very much on the upside."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.