British public sours on Biden after coronation snub, says former Thatcher aide

As President Biden takes flak both at home and across the pond for his decision to sit out the coronation of King Charles this weekend, a former aide to Margaret Thatcher says the British public has soured on the embattled American leader who promised European allies, "The U.S. is back."

"Certainly the British press, I think, have turned very strongly against Biden," said Nile Gardiner, who served as an adviser to Britain's transformative Conservative prime minister. "There's been a lot of condemnation in the U.K. of Biden's decision not to attend. I would say he's becoming a very unpopular president in the eyes of the British public. I think this is just the latest snub of America's closest friend and ally."

King Charles III is to be officially crowned king on May 6. It will be the first crowning of a monarch in Great Britain since 1953.

Confronting a widening influence-peddling investigation and approval ratings in free fall following his recent announcement that he is running for reelection, Biden opted not to join the lengthy list of heads of state and government planning to attend the coronation. The absent leader will instead be represented at the ceremony by his wife Jill Biden.

"That's Joe Biden for you, and I think he's a very rude and arrogant president," Gardiner, director of the Heritage Foundation's Thatcher Center for Freedom, said in a forthcoming interview with the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show. "He couldn't really be bothered to go over for the coronation. The coronation is, of course, an immensely important event for the British people." 

Former President Donald Trump blasted Biden's decision to stay home as "disrespectful."

"I was surprised when I heard that he wasn't coming," said Trump. "I think it's very disrespectful for him not to be."

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre last month denied that Biden's decision not to attend was a snub.

"This is not a snub," she told the British outlet The Daily Mail. "The president has a good relationship with the king."

In England, Biden's decision is not viewed in isolation. For many there, the current incident dredges up a history of bruised sensitivities, according to Gardiner.

"Joe Biden began his presidency by throwing a bust of Winston Churchill out of the Oval Office, just as Barack Obama did several years before him," Gardiner recalled. "President Trump brought the bust back. Biden removed it immediately, and this set the tone for his presidency." 

In a survey released by Gallup last week, only 37% of U.S. adults approved of Joe Biden's job so far as president, with 62% of Democrats saying they don't want him to run for reelection in 2024.