- Wednesday, March 12, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
LIZ Truss, the British foreign secretary who will lock horns with Rishi Sunak for the post of the country’s prime minister Boris Johnson who stepped down earlier this month, started off her campaign with a blunder on Wednesday (20).
The 46-year-old Truss, who overtook rival Penny Mordaunt, the minister of state for trade policy, in the final round of the parliamentarians’ votes to make it to the final two contenders, tweeted to thank her supporters and soon the hawk-eyed social media users hit back, forcing her to delete her post.
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What did Truss tweet?
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Truss, who was perhaps too ecstatic over her progress towards 10 Downing, tweeted, “Thank you for putting your trust in me. I’m ready to hit the ground from day one.”
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Clearly, the word “running” was missing and that made the virtual world go after the foreign secretary.
A press release was also issued by Truss’s team around the same time and there, the application of the English language was correct. “As Prime Minister, I would hit the ground running from day one,” it said. Truss also reissued the tweet with a correction later.
Thank you for putting your trust in me.
I’m ready to hit the ground running from day one.#LizForLeader pic.twitter.com/bCKE1LG94o
— Liz for Leader (@trussliz) July 20, 2022
But the damage had been done and the Twitterati mocked Truss, with many asking her to wear a helmet if she planned to “fall flat on her face”.
The UK has seen as many as three prime ministers since the Brexit referendum took place in 2016 and Johnson’s successor will be the fourth who will take over at a time when the British economy is facing challenges.
English comedian Jason Mansford wrote: “We’ve already ‘hit the ground’ you vapid idiot! We’ve hit the ground over and over with you and your selfish and greedy friends!
“Did you mean ‘hit the ground running’? Good god! These people are in charge.”
Actor Hugh Laurie tweeted, “Hit the ground? Hit the ground with a team of advisers who can’t understand the meaning of the words they’ve written, or why the word ‘running’ (if you insist on adopting pathetic US tufspeak) is a blindingly stupid omission?” he tweeted. “F***”
Hit the ground? Hit the ground with a team of advisers who can’t understand the meaning of the words they’ve written, or why the word ‘running’ (if you insist on adopting pathetic US tufspeak) is a blindingly stupid omission? FUCK.
— Hugh Laurie (@hughlaurie) July 20, 2022
Author and journalist Robert Hutton tweeted with an image of Truss’s deleted post, saying, “Typically decent of
@trussliz that her first act in the next stage of the contest is to provide sketchwriters with a pay-off.”
Typically decent of @trussliz that her first act in the next stage of the contest is to provide sketchwriters with a pay-off. pic.twitter.com/JU6plZtOE9
— Robert Hutton (@RobDotHutton) July 20, 2022
Another user John McDonald said, “Buy me a ticket. Anywhere.”
Buy me a ticket. Anywhere. pic.twitter.com/W8u6m2xo4o
— John MacDonald (@1johnmacdonald) July 20, 2022
Truss will now take on Sunak in a ballot of Tory Party members to decide the next prime minister. Her blunder came after Sunak appeared to think Darlington was in Scotland during a car-crash appearance on the UK’s Spectator TV.
