Former Tory foreign secretaries have condemned Liz Truss after she criticised Joe Biden for being “weak” and publicly endorsed Donald Trump’s campaign.
The former prime minister has infuriated senior members of the Conservative Party following her decision to intervene in US politics during a hugely important election year.
Speaking in an interview on Monday evening, Ms Truss said she “did not support” President Biden and pledged her support for his Republican rival.
It prompted former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind to attack her decision-making, telling i: “I think it is more evidence of her immaturity and yet another reason why she should never have been Prime Minister in the first place.
“There’s a fundamental convention that even with your closest friends or colleagues, you do not get involved in another country’s democratic election, when the people of that country are choosing a prime minister, a government or president, whatever it is. You have views, but you don’t interfere.”
He added that Ms Truss should be expected to have the “basic judgement” not to give a preference for the next president of the US.
Sir Malcolm’s comments were echoed by another ex-Tory foreign secretary, Lord Hammond.
When asked by i whether his former Cabinet colleague should be meddling in the domestic politics of the UK’s closest international ally, he replied: “No she should not. It’s very simple.”
Ms Truss, who lost her South West Norfolk seat at the general election, is attending the Republican convention in Milwaukee and has thrown her weight behind Mr Trump’s candidacy.
i understands that government insiders are relaxed about her interventions in the US, believing that as a former MP her opinion no longer matters on either side of the Atlantic.
But her decision as a former prime minister to speak out against the President and endorse his rival has sparked significant discontent among the Tories.
Ms Truss posted a picture of her appearance at the GOP convention on social media with the comment that Mr Trump will provide the “leadership the West needs”.
A former minister said: “She should not be getting involved in the US elections as former prime minister. It’s hugely damaging to relations to the UK’s biggest ally.”
According to the Tory, a gathering for both current and former Conservative MPs at a drinks event on Monday night saw widespread dislike for Ms Truss.
“She is hated by MPs across the party,” the source said. “No one can stop her [from making these interventions].
“Because people are beginning to pay less notice of her, particularly now she has lost her seat, she is having to become more and more extreme in order to get attention. She is getting lots of money from the alt-right to promote her book, and they are very powerful people.”
And a separate ex-minister said the party was better off now Ms Truss is no longer a Tory MP, adding: “Most of us are delighted to see the back of her. The public needed to see the unhinged, incompetent, ideological populists thrown out of the party. It would be impossible to rebuild a Conservative opposition with her in the House.”
The MP added: “Someone, such as a Tory grandee or peer, needs to call her out.”
In an interview with Sky News, she launched an attack against President Biden, criticising his “rhetoric” around ex-president Trump, although she said she was “not prepared to draw the line” between Mr Biden’s language and the gunman’s actions.
Praising Mr Trump’s reaction to the assassination attempt over the weekend, Ms Truss said he “showed his strength and fortitude”, adding it was “reminiscent” of former Tory prime minister Margaret Thatcher, who delivered her party conference speech after the IRA bombed her Brighton hotel in 1984.
Asked if Mr Biden was in any way to blame for the attack on Trump, the former Norfolk MP replied: “I do not support Joe Biden.
“I think he has been a weak president of the United States and I want Donald Trump to win.
“But clearly it is the responsibility of the putative assassin and the security services what’s happened.”
Her intervention in US politics came after she once again criticised Rishi Sunak, blaming the party’s collapse in the general election on his decision to “trash my reputation” as prime minister.