美国国家公共电台 NPR--Why did U.K.'s Tories pull the plug on Johnson but Republicans still support Trump?

Why did U.K.'s Tories pull the plug on Johnson but Republicans still support Trump¹?

Transcript²

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

British lawmakers forced Prime Minister Boris Johnson to step down as Conservative Party leader earlier this month after a series of scandals and lies. Meanwhile, here in the U.S., most congressional Republicans continue to back former President Trump, who remains³ the de facto head of the GOP. NPR's Frank Langfitt explains why the two parties have responded so differently to very similar leaders.

FRANK LANGFITT, BYLINE⁴: When Congress prepared to certify⁵ President Biden's election, more than 2,000 Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to try to stop it. But outside No. 10 Downing Street earlier this month, no one tried to save Boris Johnson. There were the usual crowds of tourists and school groups and former Johnson supporters, such as David Summers (ph). He's a retired⁶ cattle farmer from the English town of Penzance, as in pirates of.

DAVID SUMMERS: We need a little bit of a change. He's run his course. He's done some good things, some bad things. But these things come to an end. And hopefully, it'll be an improvement on the - when the next person kicks in.

LANGFITT: The Conservatives ousted⁸ Johnson for a number of reasons. For one, his tendency to lie about scandals became a threat to the party. Polls at the end of June showed 71% of people thought Johnson was doing a bad job. And 74% thought him untrustworthy. And that same month, the Conservatives lost two special elections for parliament. Brian Klaas is an American political scientist who teaches at University College London.

BRIAN KLAAS: The polls swung against the Tories the more that the scandals and the lies mounted. And an increasing number of Conservative MPs began to think that their seats were at risk.

LANGFITT: Meanwhile, in America, polls show a majority of Republicans still support Trump running for president again in 2024. David Dunn, he's a politics professor here at the University of Birmingham, says that's led GOP lawmakers to make a very different calculation.

DAVID DUNN: The Republicans still feel that Trump has support among his hardcore base. And for that reason, they are prepared to hang on to him, not prepared to cross him for fear of alienating⁹ that base.

LANGFITT: Four out of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach¹⁰ Trump opted¹¹ not to run for reelection, another lost in a primary. One reason so many Britons oppose Johnson is they're working off the same information about the prime minister's behavior. The United Kingdom does have a partisan¹² press. But all major news media accurately¹³ reported the facts surrounding the prime minister's scandals, including the one where Johnson claimed his government had followed all COVID rules, even though his staff threw numerous parties that clearly violated them. This is how Sky News, one of Britain's private broadcasters, covered the story.

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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: As the allegations grew and grew, Mr. Johnson became trapped in a web of rule-breaking and half-truths and untruths of his own making.

LANGFITT: Brian Klaas says American coverage¹⁴ of politics is far more fractured and sometimes contradictory¹⁵.

KLAAS: You have media outlets¹⁶ in America that are regularly peddling¹⁷ things that are fundamentally not true. And, you know, that's just not true in Britain.

LANGFITT: Consider how differently Fox News host Tucker Carlson covered Johnson's downfall. In this segment, a man identified as a former Johnson adviser¹⁸ named Thomas Corbett-Dillon said Johnson lost his job because he became too liberal, which isn't true.

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THOMAS CORBETT-DILLON: He very quickly got sucked in by the sort of globalist agenda. He became woke. And then he fully⁷ signed up to this Greta Thunberg idea of the world is ending, which is not what the conservative people voted for.

LANGFITT: One reason British media are more reluctant to publish or broadcast false information is that it carries greater risks. The United Kingdom has no equivalent of the First Amendment¹⁹. And the British government regulates media more heavily than the American government does. Again, Brian Klaas.

KLAAS: It becomes harder to punish lies unless there are clear standards of defamation²⁰, which are - frankly²¹, they have a pretty high bar in the United States. In Britain, that bar is much lower. So you regularly have publications that get sued and actually have to pay out significant penalties when they say things that are untrue.

LANGFITT: It's also much easier to get rid of a British prime minister than an American president. The American people elect their president as a chief executive. The ruling party in Britain chooses the prime minister, who is first among equals. Parties here can force out a leader by calling a no-confidence vote. And parliament routinely has opportunities to grill²² the prime minister in full public view. As Johnson's government was collapsing²³, he refused to leave office. Fellow Conservative lawmaker Bernard Jenkin confronted Johnson in this committee hearing.

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BERNARD JENKIN: Now, how much consideration are you giving to the prospect²⁴ of your resignation?

PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON: I'm happy to tell you that I'm getting on with the job that I was elected to do. And that is what I'm going to do. And I'm going to...

JENKIN: So all these problems are, basically, somebody else's fault?

LANGFITT: Jenkin pressed the prime minister on whether he planned to dissolve parliament to trigger a general election just to save his job. Scott Lucas is an emeritus²⁵ professor of international politics at the University of Birmingham.

SCOTT LUCAS: There's rules of the game of political culture here. And that, in the end, is what prevailed. Bernard Jenkin went after him. You know, and Jenkin is, you know, a hard-right Conservative, as far as I'm concerned. But there are rules that he adheres by. Those rules of the game, those aren't necessarily being adhered to or they're being eroded²⁶ in the States.

LANGFITT: In addition, it's riskier²⁷ for politicians in the U.K. to take extreme positions. Because of gerrymandering, most U.S. congressional representatives have safe seats. Districting is fair in the U.K., where more seats change hands in elections. In fact, a British parliamentarian is three times more likely to lose his or her seat than a U.S. representative. As Brian Klaas puts it...

KLAAS: Politicians that don't fear losing are politicians that never compromise. Most politicians in the United States do not fear electoral losses unless they are facing a primary challenge because they're not viewed as extreme enough in their own party.

LANGFITT: It's also a bit harder for politicians here to use scorched-earth rhetoric²⁸ because of strict rules in the House of Commons. The language can sound quaint²⁹ to American ears, but it's designed to prevent personal attacks and a complete breakdown³⁰ in civility.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JOHNSON: I want to say how grateful I am to the right honorable gentleman for the terms in which he has just spoken.

LANGFITT: None of this is to suggest the British political system is superior to the American one. United Kingdom doesn't have a written constitution. And Brexit has accelerated divisions that many here think could cause the United Kingdom to break apart within the next decade. But Brian Klaas says, there is a lesson for voters on both sides of the Atlantic.

KLAAS: Elect politicians who genuinely are principled. And think carefully about the systems of politics that are producing the outcomes that we are seeing, because I think the biggest mistake both for Britain and the United States would be to simply blame the individual. They are products of a system in which the politics are broken.

LANGFITT: And, Klaas says, British Conservative lawmakers have done a better job of confronting the threats to their democracy than their counterparts in America.

Frank Langfitt, NPR News, London.

(SOUNDBITE OF SCRIMSHIRE AND CLEVELAND WATKISS SONG, "THE PILE")

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 certify   

vt.证明，证实；发证书(或执照)给

参考例句：

• I can certify to his good character.我可以证明他品德好。
• This swimming certificate is to certify that I can swim one hundred meters.这张游泳证是用以证明我可以游100米远。

6 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

9 alienating   

v.使疏远( alienate的现在分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• The phenomena of alienation are widespread. Sports are also alienating. 异化现象普遍存在，体育运动也不例外。 来自互联网
• How can you appeal to them without alienating the mainstream crowd? 你是怎么在不疏忽主流玩家的情况下吸引住他们呢？ 来自互联网

10 impeach   

v.弹劾；检举

参考例句：

• We must impeach the judge for taking bribes.我们一定要检举法官收受贿赂。
• The committee decided to impeach the President.委员会决定弹劾总统。

11 opted   

v.选择，挑选( opt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was co-opted onto the board. 她获增选为董事会成员。
• After graduating she opted for a career in music. 毕业后她选择了从事音乐工作。

12 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

13 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

14 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

15 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。

16 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

17 peddling   

忙于琐事的，无关紧要的

参考例句：

• He worked as a door-to-door salesman peddling cloths and brushes. 他的工作是上门推销抹布和刷子。
• "If he doesn't like peddling, why doesn't he practice law? "要是他不高兴卖柴火，干吗不当律师呢？

18 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

19 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

20 defamation   

n.诽谤；中伤

参考例句：

• Character defamation can be either oral or written.人格诽谤既可以是口头的也可以是书面的。
• The company sued for defamation.这个公司因受到诽谤而提起诉讼。

21 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

22 grill   

n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问

参考例句：

• Put it under the grill for a minute to brown the top.放在烤架下烤一分钟把上面烤成金黄色。
• I'll grill you some mutton.我来给你烤一些羊肉吃。

23 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

24 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

25 emeritus   

adj.名誉退休的

参考例句：

• "Perhaps I can introduce Mr.Lake Kirby,an emeritus professor from Washington University?"请允许我介绍华盛顿大学名誉教授莱克柯尔比先生。
• He will continue as chairman emeritus.他将会继续担任荣誉主席。

26 eroded   

adj. 被侵蚀的，有蚀痕的 动词erode的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The cliff face has been steadily eroded by the sea. 峭壁表面逐渐被海水侵蚀。
• The stream eroded a channel in the solid rock. 小溪在硬石中侵蚀成一条水道。

27 riskier   

冒险的，危险的( risky的比较级 )

参考例句：

• Now they are starting to demand higher returns on riskier assets. 而今他们开始在风险更高的资产上要求更高的回报。
• The problem with that: RIM's business is getting riskier every quarter. 不过问题也随之而来：RIM面临的业务风险正逐季增大。

28 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

29 quaint   

adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的

参考例句：

• There were many small lanes in the quaint village.在这古香古色的村庄里，有很多小巷。
• They still keep some quaint old customs.他们仍然保留着一些稀奇古怪的旧风俗。

30 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。