Senior UK Lawmaker: Trump Election Proves Democracy Is in Good Health

Discussing a recent report which claimed that the United States had become a “flawed democracy”, the British Foreign Secretary rejected the finding and said the fact disaffected voters in the U.S. were able to elect President Trump proves democracy is in good shape.

UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt — one of the select group of senior ministers at the top of the British government — batted back the freedom ranking report claim that the United States had become a “flawed democracy”.

Speaking to British newspaper The Times in a discussion about the problems faced by democracies worldwide in the 21st century, when asked of the assessment by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Hunt hit back: “I would never describe the United States like that. The truth is, it is a very active and strong democracy because it elected President Trump, who is articulating the concerns of the very group of voters who felt disenfranchised and alienated.”

Despite his positive assessment of U.S. democracy as a whole, former health secretary Hunt — who was promoted to his new senior role when top Brexiteer Boris Johnson quit the government over Theresa May’s “betrayal” place — could not resist a snide jab at President Trump.

He said: “So [The U.S.] has a democratic system that reflected those fears, whatever you might think about Trump’s policies and views.”

Alluding to the persistent claims of Russian interference in U.S. and UK elections, Hunt said it was important to “sort out” foreign countries influencing democracy through social media, although he also said he was not aware of successful attempts. When asked specifically whether Russia had influenced the UK, Hunt replied: “I’ve seen no evidence that Russia has influenced the outcome of any democratic process, whether it is a referendum or an election.”

But he said he was aware of attempted influence by Russia in continental European nations. Implying it was not necessarily so big a problem as supposed, Hunt said of alleged Russian influence: “That is relatively easily within our power to sort out.”

Oliver JJ Lane is the editor of Breitbart London — Follow him on Twitter and Facebook