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British Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has said United States President Donald Trump deserved his party’s heavy defeat in Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Badenoch made the remarks in an interview with The Independent Editor-in-Chief, Geordie Greig, during which she criticised Trump’s handling of the Iran war, tariff policies and treatment of allies.
She described the Republican Party’s defeat as “entirely self-inflicted”.
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The Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections. They also flipped at least seven Senate seats and more than two dozen House districts, dealing a major blow to Trump’s Republican Party.
Asked whether Trump deserved the defeat, Badenoch replied, “Yeah. He has not been acting in the way that I would consider conservative.
“Where is the push for free markets and better trade… rather than protectionism, America first, the squabbling with allies? That’s not what conservatives do.”
Badenoch also criticised what she described as Trump’s “dirty” style of politics, saying his personal attacks fell below the standards expected of a statesman.
“Trump is very charming in person, but you see the way that he talks about journalists, about individuals. It doesn’t meet the standards a statesman should meet – always wanting to get dirty in terms of insults and so on,” she said.
She said she was particularly unhappy with Trump’s comments about British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Badenoch also described Trump’s treatment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House as “awful”.
The UK opposition leader further said she would have been comfortable if Trump had lost the 2024 presidential election to his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris.
“People ask me who did I prefer, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump? I would say I like them both equally. Make of that what you will,” she said.
Badenoch argued that Trump had wasted the broad coalition of voters that helped him win the presidency. The group included Latino voters and more Black voters than any previous Republican presidential candidate.
She questioned his decision to introduce tariffs and make comments about Greenland and Canada, saying the moves had raised concerns among voters.
“He came in with this extraordinary coalition, Latinos, he had more black voters than any other Republican, and what’s the first thing that he does? Tariffs and then talking about Greenland and Canada and I think a lot of people were wondering, ‘what are you doing? Tariffs are bad for the cost of living, they’re not good, then you have a war in Iran, which, I understand the justification, Iran is an enemy of this country, we don’t want them getting nuclear weapons, but where’s the plan?’” she said.
