US Republican Senator Ron Johnson has hit out at the UK's new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, as he admitted he had "never heard" of the Labour leader.
Sir Keir was elected into power last week in a landslide victory for the Labour Party, wiping out 14 years of Conservative reign.
In his first week as Britain's new premier, Starmer has already scrapped the Rwanda plan to tackle illegal migration, met with President Joe Biden and other world leaders at the Nato Summit, and declared to end doctor strikes by negotiating a pay deal.
When asked for his thoughts from a US perspective on Starmer taking to power, Johnson admitted the new Prime Minister is "relentless", but had "not heard of him" until recently.
US Republican Senator Ron Johnson claimed he has 'never heard of Keir Starmer'
PA / GBN America
Johnson said: "I'm a cheerleader for the UK, for Britain. I want to see them succeed. What I read about him, I'd never heard of him, but he's pretty relentless.
"I was actually impressed with his speech in front of 10 Downing Street."
Analysing his approach to policy and his plans to "change" Britain, Johnson told GBNA Correspondent Steven Edginton: "He's very problem solving oriented as opposed to ideological."
When told by Steven how Starmer is a "socialist" who "supports wokeism and net zero", Johnson claimed the Prime Minister is "crazy" to pursue net zero.
The Prime Minister was elected last week in a landslide victory for the Labour Party
PA
Johnson said: "In laying out what his ideology is, if he's going to pursue policies like net zero, that's crazy."
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"I'm not a climate change denier, but I'm not a climate change alarmist. And I think these are just self-inflicted wounds, pursuing these kind of policies."
When asked for his view on the major Conservative loss in the UK, in which Rishi Sunak's party lost over 100 seats in Parliament, Johnson said they suffered defeat because they "weren't conservative enough".
Johnson explained: "They weren't conservative. They became the tax collector for the welfare state - that's not popular.
"It doesn't give people a choice."
Ron Johnson admitted he was 'impressed' by Starmer's speech in Downing Street
GBN America
Highlighting how the party "abandoned conservative principles", Johnson added that freedom is "one essential ingredient" in conservatism.
Johnson told GBNA: "When you abandon your conservative principles, which is to understand that freedom is the one essential ingredient and that government ought to be limited.
"We need some regulation, some level of taxation, both of those we should should be kept at a minimum, so that individuals can use their freedom to dream, aspire, build and create. That's what conservatism is.
"And if you just become the tax collector for the welfare state, you have no constituency."
