Truss in America
And other grim tales from Torydom
In September 2022 – barely 18 months ago – Liz Truss was elected leader of the governing party in the UK and became prime minister. She had been in the cabinet for eight years and served as foreign secretary. A year and a half later and we found her in Maryland doing an improv event on the fringe of a right-wing Republican conference alongside Steve Bannon, a major figure in the international far right. Wtaf, as they say.
The conference was that of the Conservative Political Action Committee, which these days is a pure vehicle for what is now called MAGA politics, after the slogan used by Donald Trump. This month’s event was addressed by Truss herself, as well as Bannon, the Ohio senator J.D. Vance (more on him later), the conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec who told the conference that he welcomed “the end of democracy” and praised the January 6th rioters, and a former Catholic bishop, Joseph Strickland, who has been a bitter critic of Pope Francis, who he has accused of running a “deep state” in the Vatican.
In the improv event that followed her speech Truss was praised by Bannon (who once called for the execution of Anthony Fauci, the then US director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease on the basis, I think, of his advocacy of vaccination). Bannon told Truss that there was a cadre of far right people ready to take over the federal administration and judiciary in the event of a Trump victory and Truss responded, “Steve, once you’ve finished over here you can come and help us out in Britain.”
Talking about the Rochdale by-election Truss suggested that there was a chance of a “radical Islamic party” taking the seat (no names, no libel danger) to which Bannon asked whether Rochdale had been at the centre of a grooming scandal that “Tommy Robinson and all those heroes” had fought against. Truss agreed.