In recent months, news reports in the U.K. revealed that Prime Minister Boris Johnson attended parties in government buildings while Britain was in strict COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. His approval rating has now sunk to 22 percent, and it’s unclear if he’ll hang on to his leadership position. In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, two hosts of the British “Talking Politics” podcast, David Runciman and Helen Thompson, discuss why the British public and some members of the Conservative Party have soured on Johnson in a way that American Republicans never soured on President Trump, despite Trump’s numerous scandals. They also reflect on how British and American politics changed during the period when Brexit and Trump dominated the two countries’ news cycles and consider their lasting impact.
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