Apparent U.S. presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis has reportedly been snubbed by the UK Prime Minister, who has refused a potential meeting with the Republican governor while he is visiting Britain.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will avoid a meeting with Flordia Governor Ron DeSantis, who is set to touch down in the UK on Friday as part of a four-country international tour.
Although reportedly billed as an attempt to boost Florida’s trade relations with foreign governments, many believe the tour is a precursor to DeSantis’ run to become America’s next President, with such international road trips being common for would-be nominees for the top job.
DeSantis has been warmly greeted by the leaders of the other countries he has visited so far, with the Prime Ministers of Israel, South Korea and Japan all taking their time to meet the influential American politician in the full knowledge he could be the U.S.’s next commander-in-chief.
However, according to a report by The Times, no such meeting will take place between DeSantis and Sunak, with the Florida governor instead set to be pawned off to lower-ranking UK officials James Cleverly and Kemi Badenoch.
The Prime Minister’s office has reportedly insisted that the lack of a meeting between the two leaders is merely the result of a scheduling clash, which they claim has made a face-to-face impossible, though such an excuse has been deemed “convenient at best” by insiders cited in the report.
Instead, sources close to the PM have claimed that Sunak’s decision to refuse the meeting is an attempt to prevent him from influencing internal Republican Party politics.
“Obviously there is a balance to be struck,” one government source is reported as saying. “We need to take him seriously as it is not impossible that he could be the next president — but there are clearly sensitivities given the state of the Republican race.”
In particular, the source claimed that Sunak’s refusal was an attempt to pacify former President Donald Trump, who is also due to visit the UK in the coming days.
Although insiders have claimed that the Sunak snub is an attempt to prevent foreign interference in U.S. elections, such a suggestion is not exactly airtight, with former Prime Ministers having reportedly engaged with various U.S. Presidential candidates in the past.
What likely has not helped DeSantis’ chances of securing a meeting is the massive ideological gap in U.S. and UK politics.
Although Rishi Sunak is ostensibly the Prime Minister of a right-wing government in the UK, his Conservative Party ultimately has far more in common with the U.S. Democrats, with both parties regularly pushing green agenda politics while also having a soft touch when it comes to mass immigration.
Sunak’s approach to COVID-19 was also radically different to that of the Florida governor, with the now-UK Prime Minister formerly serving in an administration that regularly imposed draconian restrictions against its population all in the name of stopping the spread of the coronavirus.
Both men’s approach to the issue of transgenderism is also very different, with DeSantis regularly publicly challenging the ideology, while Sunak struggles to admit that no women have penises.