From the Geller Report

‘Obama is unacceptable’ Boris ‘rejects’ Biden choice for US Ambassador after Brexit claim

DOWNING Street has denied claims that the delay in the appointment to the US Ambassador to the UK is because the Prime Minister objected to Joe Biden’s first choice – Barack Obama.

By David Maddox and Marco Giannangel, The Express, Jul 10, 2021:

Foreign Office and Washington sources have told the Sunday Express the Biden administration had informally suggested the former US President but Boris Johnson does not want Mr Obama to fill the post. If true it would be the first known case of a potential US Ambassador to the UK appointment being objected to by the British government. There have been disagreements between Mr Obama and Mr Johnson since 2016 when he came on a visit to Britain during the EU referendum and claimed Britain would be “at the back of the queue” for trade deals.

It was an almost unprecedented intervention in a domestic issue in Britain by a serving US President and was aimed at undermining a core argument of the Leave campaign being led by Mr Johnson by dismissing claims that EU trade could be replaced by a US trade deal.

Mr Johnson also is said to have infuriated Mr Obama with a column he wrote on the then US President suggesting his remarks were linked to his dislike of Britain because of his father’s family coming from Kenya and opposing British colonial rule.

He also highlighted how Mr Obama had removed a bust of Churchill from the Oval Office on being sworn in as President as further evidence of his disdain for Britain.

One senior Whitehall source told the Sunday Express: “It’s absolutely true that the government has privately objected to an Obama appointment. It’s also true that this is why there is a delay.”

Another senior source said: “Obama is just unacceptable. The back of the queue comment alone makes him unacceptable.”