| Just a touch of faculty lounge one-upmanship... |
"I got questions of this variety when Prime Minister Netanyahu had announced that Ambassador Dermer would be the Israeli envoy to the United States. What I said in that situation is what I’ll say here," Earnest says.
He then goes on to highlight the fact that the US and UK’s special relationship "transcends any single personality."
"The decision we will make is to seek to deepen and strengthen our special relationship with the UK, regardless of who serves in a position as prominent as foreign minister," he says.
Johnson, an eccentric former London mayor, known for his gaffes and buffoonery, was chosen Wednesday by Theresa May as the top diplomat to lead the country out of the EU. Among other outspoken remarks, he has refered to Obama as the part-Kenyan President [with an] ancestral dislike of the British Empire," and compared
Hillary Clinton... sometimes described as
America's Blond Eminenceand at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as
Another George C. Marshall...
to "a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital."
Dermer too has been known to be critical of Obama and the White House, though while using less salty language.
Earnest also said Obama had called to congratulate new British Prime Minister Theresa May.
"The president certainly looks forward to working with Prime Minister May in the six months he has remaining in office," Earnest said.