Trump campaign adviser calls Lord Mandelson ‘an absolute moron’ | Global News Avenue

US President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign adviser has called Lord Peter Mandelson, the incoming British ambassador to the US, a “complete idiot”.

Chris LaCivetta posted on social media that Lord Mandelson “should stay at home”.

LaCivita, who served as co-campaign manager for Trump’s presidential campaign, criticized the British government’s decision, saying it was replacing a “universally respected professional ambassador” with a complete idiot.

Lord Mandelson is one of the most well-known figures in British politics, having held a number of ministerial roles under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown before receiving a life peerage.

He called his appointment as the next British ambassador to the United States a “huge honour”.

As first reported by The Times, Lord Mandelson will succeed Dame Karen Pearce, whose term in Washington, D.C., will end when Trump takes over the White House in early 2025.

The 71-year-old, dubbed the “Prince of Darkness” during his time as New Labour’s opinion adviser, will now become a key link between the prime minister and Trump’s incoming government at a critical moment for US-UK diplomacy.

Like other senior Labor figures, Lord Mandelson has a record of criticizing Donald Trump, once describing him as “nothing short of a white nationalist and a racist”.

The comments were the focus of Lacivita’s criticism of Lord Mandelson, who said in a post on X that the incoming ambassador “described Trump as a threat to the world and ‘simply a white nationalist'”.

Lord Mandelson said in a statement following his appointment: “We face challenges in the UK but also huge opportunities, and it will be a privilege to work with the government to seize these opportunities.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was “delighted” to appoint Lord Mandelson.

“The United States is one of our most important allies, and our friendship is about to begin a new chapter,” he said in a statement.

“Peter will bring unparalleled experience to the role and will enable our partnership to continue to strengthen.”

Sir Keir also thanked Dame Karen for her “invaluable service over the past four years and particularly for her personal wisdom and unwavering support since July”.

British ambassadors are usually career diplomats or civil servants, but Downing Street said the choice of a leading Labor politician “demonstrates how we value our relationship with the Trump administration”.

Meanwhile, senior Conservative MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith questioned the decision.

He called for an inquiry into Lord Mandelson’s appointment, his background and “whether it is credible or likely to cause offense in the United States”.

Sir Ian added: “He is not a diplomatic appointee but a political appointee and political appointees tend to come with baggage, particularly if they have been away from Parliament and government for some time.”

In a recently exposed 2019 interview with an Italian journalist, Lord Mandelson described Trump as “reckless and a danger to the world”.

In an interview with the Evening Standard in 2018, he also called Trump a “bully.”

Lord Mandelson, who was touted as a potential candidate for U.S. ambassador, the most prestigious diplomatic post in the British government, has since softened his rhetoric toward Trump.

In November, he proposed “a new relationship, not a special relationship” with the United States on the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg Sunday programme.

He also told the News Agents podcast that “it’s absolutely essential that we have a relationship with President Trump that allows us to not only understand and explain what he’s doing, but to influence it.”

He added that the Labor government should try to “reconnect” with Trump ally and tech billionaire Elon Musk.

Musk, who has been critical of Sir Keir’s government, has been appointed to head a new advisory team at the Department of Government Effectiveness (Doge), which is not an official government department.