Another gaffe for Boris Johnson as he means to tweet Australian PM Scott Morrison – but messages man from America with just 56 followers instead
- The British Prime Minister recounted a ‘great call’ with Scott Morrison today
- Yet the account he mentioned was not the Australian Liberal Party leader
- The post remained up for 12 minutes before it was hastily deleted and replaced
Boris Johnson has been left red-faced after trying to tweet Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison but instead tagging an American man with 56 followers.
The British Prime Minister took to social media this afternoon to recount a constructive telephone call with his counterpart Down Under.
His post remained up for 12 minutes before it was hastily deleted and replaced by an identical post, this time tagging the real politician, whose account is @ScottMorrisonMP and not @ScottMorrison.
The gaffe comes amid a bruising time for Mr Johnson who is facing open backbench revolt over his refusal extend free school meals into half-term.
Boris Johnson has been left red-faced after trying to tweet the Australian Prime Minister but instead tagging a random man with 56 followers
The real Scott Morrison: Mr Morrison is Australia’s 30th prime minister and caused a dramatic election upset in 2019 when he unexpectedly retained power
Cementing diplomatic and trading ties between the two long-standing allies, Mr Johnson tweeted: ‘Great call with my friend Scott Morrison this morning.
‘Whether it’s boosting trade between great nations or developing cutting-edge technology to tackle climate change – the UK and Australia are partners building back better from coronavirus.’
Mr Johnson is not the first to confuse the two Scott Morrisons. The lesser known Mr Morrison’s Twitter feed shows him gently pointing out he is not a politician.
Yet sometimes he jokingly assumes the role and pledges to ‘do his best’ and thanks people for their support.
The British Prime Minister’s blunder was seized upon by followers who joked he had succeeded ‘second time lucky’.
The post remained up for 12 minutes before it was hastily deleted and replaced by an identical post, this time tagging the real politician, whose account is @ScottMorrisonMP and not @ScottMorrison
The British Prime Minister’s blunder was seized upon by followers who joked he had succeeded ‘second time lucky’
One person said: ‘First guy you @ must have been worried’.
Social media is a pitfall many world leaders grapple with and once memorably saw prolific tweeter Donald Trump inadvertently direct a barrage of messages to a woman from Bognor after trying to tag the then UK prime minister.
Theresa May Scrivener, whose Twitter handle is @TheresaMay, called on the White House to issue an apology after she was bombarded with tweets in 2017.
Mr Morrison is Australia’s 30th prime minister and caused a dramatic election upset in 2019 when he defied polling to unexpectedly retain power.
The country has changed premiers multiple times in recent history and have seen five prime ministers in the space of a decade.
The lesser known Mr Morrison’s Twitter feed shows him gently pointing out he is not the politician, while sometimes jokingly assuming the role and pledging to ‘do his best’ and thanking people for their support