Boris plays down 'sadistic nurse' jibe at Hillary Clinton as he looks to woo New York

 
Glitzy dinner: the Mayor with Alexa Chung (Picture: Andrew Parsons / i-Images)
Pippa Crerar12 February 2015
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A sheepish Boris Johnson today played down a past remark that Hillary Clinton reminded him of a “sadistic nurse in a mental hospital”.

Just hours ahead of his first ever meeting with the US presidential hopeful, the Mayor was batting away claims that his comments could damage the key strategic relationship.

He told the Evening Standard: “I think it’s a measure of the Senator that she will have rightly taken those remarks in context and will understand that it was said in a light-hearted spirit.”

The Mayor was left flustered after he was reminded he had once said Mrs Clinton represented “everything I came into politics to oppose” including an “all-round purse-lipped political correctness”.

In an article in 2007, when Mrs Clinton was in the race to be Democratic candidate for President, he concluded he would like her to win so her husband Bill could be back in the White House.

US trip: Boris Johnson with, from left, Caroline Rush, Vogue’s Anna Wintour and GQ editor Dylan Jones at a British fashion event in New York (Picture: Andrew Parsons / i-Images)

Mr Johnson today rejected suggestions that his comments could be interpreted as sexist, adding it would be “a wonderful thing” for gender equality if she ended up in the White House in 2016.

But the Mayor, who is meeting Mrs Clinton at her offices in New York later today, stopped short of offering a full endorsement.

“She’s an extraordinary politician,” he said in an interview with the Evening Standard. “But I think it would be wrong of me to intrude on election campaigns in America and indeed I wouldn’t want to blight any candidate with my endorsement.

“I should also stress I have met Republican potential candidates and think very highly of them.”

The Mayor has met Jeb Bush, brother of former President George W Bush, and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie — both considered Republican front-runners. Mr Johnson is in New York for the second leg of his six-day trade mission along America’s East Coast.

After taking a ride in a yellow taxicab, he dined with stars of the fashion world at a British Fashion Council event, including American Vogue editor Anna Wintour, TV presenter Alexa Chung and Fashion Council boss Caroline Rush.

With a wry smile, he gave reporters a run down of what he was wearing, which included a Next tie, Marks & Spencer shirt, a suit by a “chap” from London and Church’s shoes.

Mr Johnson also said he wanted to challenge some “misconceptions” in America over how Britain is tackling Islamic extremism.

Taxi ride: Boris Johnson takes a cab in New York (Picture; Andrew Parsons / i-Images)

The Mayor singled out Bobby Jindal, the Republican Governor for Louisiana, who he said needed “urgent and gentle” re-education after suggesting Britain had no-go areas as a result of extremism. “I invite him to come and see London in its totality, every area of the city and see that there are absolutely no no-go zones.”

Mr Johnson had to make more changes to his plans yesterday, after they were disrupted by snow in Boston. New York mayor Bill de Blasio postponed their meeting, citing illness — though he managed to make it out for a documentary launch. @PippaCrerar

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in