--- title: Boris Johnson: 7 Times He Shocked the World description: Boris Johnson's absurd foreign-relations gaffes don't bode well for his new job as Foreign Secretary canonical: https://time.com/4405504/boris-johnson-foreign-secretary-theresa-may-2/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-14T00:07:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:34:24.259Z og:title: 7 Times New U.K. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson Shocked the World og:description: Johnson's absurd foreign relations gaffes don't bode well for his new job og:url: https://time.com/4405504/boris-johnson-foreign-secretary-theresa-may-2/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0822dd862db855ea/69889bee0a4a22962e9ca752/boris-johnson-stuck-zip-line.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Boris Johnson Stuck On Zip Line og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 7 Times New U.K. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson Shocked the World twitter:description: Johnson's absurd foreign relations gaffes don't bode well for his new job twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0822dd862db855ea/69889bee0a4a22962e9ca752/boris-johnson-stuck-zip-line.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 7 Times New U.K. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson Shocked the World  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Jul 14, 2016 12:07 AM UTC  Boris Johnson got stuck on a zip-line during BT London Live in Victoria Park in London, Aug. 1, 2012. Boris Johnson got stuck on a zip-line during BT London Live in Victoria Park in London, Aug. 1, 2012.Lee Medcalf—Barcroft Media/Getty Images  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Jul 14, 2016 12:07 AM UTC Britain’s new Prime Minister, Theresa May, wasted no time in making a notable mark on government — she named former London mayor and fervent Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson as the new Foreign Secretary. To put it mildly, Johnson is a colorful character. Now the man who has had to apologize to entire countries for offending them will act as Britain’s top diplomat (and is subsequently responsible for MI6). Brits and non-Brits alike immediately began pointing out some problematic moments in Johnson’s past pertaining to foreign places or people. Here are a few of the most questionable things that Boris Johnson has said or done to people across the entire world: **1\. “Watermelon smiles”** When Johnson wrote about then Prime Minister Tony Blair’s trip to the Congo [in 2002](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3571742/If-Blairs-so-good-at-running-the-Congo-let-him-stay-there.html), he sparked outrage for calling local residents “piccaninnies.” “No doubt the AK47s will fall silent, and the pangas will stop their hacking of human flesh, and the tribal warriors will all break out in watermelon smiles to see the big white chief touch down,” he continued. **2\. Upsetting the entire country of Papua New Guinea**Johnson offered an apology to the country for [writing in 2006](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1528393/Boris-in-hot-water-over-cannibalism-in-Papua.html), “For 10 years we in the Tory party have become used to Papua New Guinea–style orgies of cannibalism and chief-killing, and so it is with a happy amazement that we watch as the madness engulfs the Labour Party.” **3\. Hillary Clinton**Johnson was particularly insulting of the presidential candidate in a [2007 column](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/3643709/I-want-Hillary-Clinton-to-be-president.html) for the _Daily Telegraph_, in which he wrote, “She’s got dyed blonde hair and pouty lips, and a steely blue stare, like a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital.” **4\. Donald Trump**Johnson’s insults are not bound by party lines: he also said recently, “The only reason I wouldn’t visit some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump.” **5\. “Dobby the house elf”**He compared Russian President Vladimir Putin to the knobby-looking _Harry Potter_ character in December: “Despite looking a bit like Dobby the House Elf,” [Johnson wrote](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/12036184/Lets-deal-with-the-Devil-we-should-work-with-Vladimir-Putin-and-Bashar-al-Assad-in-Syria.html), “he is a ruthless and manipulative tyrant.” **6\. President Barack Obama**In [a column](https://www.thesun.co.uk/archives/politics/1139354/boris-johnson-uk-and-america-can-be-better-friends-than-ever-mr-obama-if-we-leave-the-eu/) for right-leaning British tabloid the _Sun_ in April, Johnson implied that Obama removing a bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office was “a symbol of the part-Kenyan President’s ancestral dislike of the British empire — of which Churchill had been such a fervent defender.” The argument [drew critiques](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/23/world/europe/boris-johnson-the-sun-brexit.html) of being both inconceivable and racist. **7\. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan**Not only did Johnson enter an open contest to pen offensive poetry about Erdogan, but the _Spectator_ selected his poem [as the winner](http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/05/boris-johnson-wins-the-spectators-president-erdogan-offensive-poetry-competition/). In it, he introduced a goat as a romantic partner for Erdogan, and shamelessly rhymed “Ankara” with “wankerer.” And if that’s not enough, he has [a tendency](http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/15/boris-johnson-knocks-over-10-year-old-boy-during-rugby-game-in-japan) to [knock young children down](http://www.businessinsider.com/boris-johnson-italy-skiing-gaffe-2012-1). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4405504/boris-johnson-foreign-secretary-theresa-may-2/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4405504/boris-johnson-foreign-secretary-theresa-may-2/"},"headline":"7 Times New U.K. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson Shocked the World","datePublished":"2016-07-14T00:07:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:34:24.259Z","description":"Johnson's absurd foreign-relations gaffes don't bode well for his new job","url":"https://time.com/4405504/boris-johnson-foreign-secretary-theresa-may-2/","keywords":["Newsfeed","politics","United Kingdom"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0822dd862db855ea/69889bee0a4a22962e9ca752/boris-johnson-stuck-zip-line.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0822dd862db855ea/69889bee0a4a22962e9ca752/boris-johnson-stuck-zip-line.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Boris Johnson Stuck On Zip Line","caption":"Boris Johnson got stuck on a zip-line during BT London Live in Victoria Park in London, Aug. 1, 2012.","creditText":"Lee Medcalf—Barcroft Media/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4405504/boris-johnson-foreign-secretary-theresa-may-2/","name":"7 Times New U.K. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson Shocked the World"}}]}] ```