According To A French Magazine, Macron Dubbed Boris Johnson A "Clown" In Private

According to sources in France, French President Emmanuel Macron referred to Boris Johnson as a "clown" in a private chat.

According to Macron, the British prime minister has "the attitude of a vulgarian," according to the political magazine Le Canard enchaîné, which is often referred to as the French equivalent of Private Eye.

It happened after Macron chastised Johnson for his behavior during a phone call between the two leaders following the drowning of a refugee boat in the English Channel last Wednesday.

After Johnson tweeted a letter outlining a five-point plan to address the issue of Channel crossings, the French president was enraged. "I had a serious conversation with Prime Minister Johnson two days ago," Macron said following the tweet during a press briefing on Friday. "I, for one, will continue to do so, as I will with all countries and leaders." When methods aren't serious, they surprise me. On these subjects, we do not communicate from one leader to another by public tweets and letters."

However, the president was far more harsh in private, according to the magazine. "BoJo talks to me at full speed, everything is OK, we have debates like big people, and then he gives us a hard time before or after in an inelegant way," he was reported as adding. It's the same circus every time."

Macron informed his advisers that Johnson had apologized for publicly making France a scapegoat over matters like the Channel crossings and the "sausage war."

"It's awful to see a major country with which we might accomplish tremendous amounts of things being headed by a buffoon," Macron reportedly stated.

Relations between France and the UK have "never been as terrible since Waterloo," according to former French ambassador to the UK Sylvie Bermann.

The French president is also said to have blamed the Brexit deal's flaws on Johnson's attitude toward France.