Ed Miliband Blanks Reporter Asking About Trump

Ed Miliband awkwardly blanked a reporter who asked him about his previous criticism of Donald Trump as he met one of the president’s closest allies in Washington.

The new foreign secretary simply grinned and shook US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s hand as Sky News’s James Matthews asked if he still thinks Trump is “an idiot, a racist and a misogynist”.

Miliband made as series of criticisms of Trump during his first term in office.

In 2016, he said: “The idea that we share values with a racist, misogynistic, self-confessed groper beggars belief .”

The following year, Miliband said the president had “lowered the bar for idiocy”.

And in 2018, he told GQ magazine: “What is objectionable about him? His racism. His misogyny. His peculiar relationship with Russia and most of all with the truth.”

As Miliband continued to ignore him, Matthews asked: “Do you still hold a dim view of the president and does it hamper your business?”

The foreign secretary would only say: “We’re looking forward to our meeting.”

Watch the excruciating moment below:

The White House was reportedly furious at prime minister Andy Burnham’s decision to make Miliband foreign secretary, given his strong support for net zero and opposition to further drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea.

In a statement after his meeting with Rubio, Miliband said the pair had discussed the importance of re-opening the Strait of Hormuz and “standing together with Ukraine in the face of Putin’s war”.

The pair also talked about the “intolerable” situation in Gaza, and the need for a “lasting peace” between Israel and Palestine.

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