The socialism of midwits

The triumph of anti-Americanism

British opinion of America has reached such depths that the public now view Saudi Arabia more favourably than our long-standing ally. Anecdotally, I’ve heard people say that they wouldn’t even visit the United States right now, and Times columnist Giles Coren earlier this year wrote about how they had cancelled a family holiday to the country.

International tourist numbers to the US have indeed fallen, and although the strength of the dollar is surely a major factor, as far as explaining the huge decline in popularity I don’t think you’d need to commission an extensive think-tank report to find out why: yes, it’s him.

British favourability dropped sharply sometime around 2016 and then further declined in 2024. Trump is clearly the main driver of negative feelings, although not the only one. There was much antipathy in 2020, which may have been related to the election but seems more likely due to the chaotic scenes that followed George Floyd’s death.

I imagine that many Britons were outraged by the institutional racism that became a daily, hourly, minutely subject of discussion in our media. For some British conservatives, in contrast, the summer of Floyd led to a moment of clarity that the United States was the source of our ills - that the country’s institutions, its fanatical universities and grossly dishonest media, were the driver of a mania sweeping across the Atlantic. But then again, I’m not sure how widespread the view actually was, or whether it was just the dozen or so weirdos I was talking to online during lockdown.