‘I’m Britain’s Marco Rubio!’ Miliband’s TikTok street interview sparks ‘staged’ row
The Foreign Secretary has claimed he is the “British Marco Rubio” after being stopped by an influencer on a New York street, sparking online debate about whether it was staged.
The Foreign Secretary has claimed he is the “British Marco Rubio” after being stopped by an influencer on a New York street, sparking online debate about whether it was staged.
Listen to this article
The interaction took place after Ed Miliband was stopped by well-known TikTok personality Feroz Khan, whose content revolves around stopping people in public and asking them: “What do you do for a living?”
The meet-cute with Miliband took place as the foreign secretary attended the UN General Assembly in New York.
In the video, Khan stops Miliband in the street and begins the video as he usually does, by telling him: “Excuse me, you have an amazing outfit.”
He goes on to ask the foreign secretary: “What do you do for a living?”
The seemingly spontaneous encounter has sparked debate online, with users speculating over the authenticity of the interaction.
Read more: Andy Burnham has been crowned Britain’s first TikTok PM, but do the numbers back it up?
Miliband’s aides disappear out of shot without looking back to assess who he is talking to, and his answers appear rehearsed, as he says: “Hang on, you’re that Feroz guy, aren’t you?”
“You interviewed JLo once" he goes on. "What are you doing here?”
Khan responds: “I spread positivity on social media, and I happened to come across you well dressed. What do you do for a living?”
Miliband responds by telling him he is the foreign secretary of Great Britain.
“Please forgive me”, Khan replies. “I don’t know what that is.”
“I’m like the Marco Rubio of Great Britain,” Miliband says.
Miliband explains that he is “trying to make the world a better place” and says “that’s important to me.”
When asked about any challenges he faced, Miliband said, “I ran to be prime minister of Britain. It didn’t go so well.”
“I lost. But I kept going,” he goes on. “That’s the most important thing. You’ve got to keep going!”
In response to being asked what his advice for the world is, he says: “Do what you think is right,” he says.
“Stick to your beliefs. That’s the only way you can keep going. Certainly in politics and in life I think.”
Miliband signed off by saying he wants to be remembered “as someone who tried to do good in the world. And someone who is kind.”
The videos went up on both Khan’s account, the Foreign Office and Britain’s UN mission at the same time, indicating this was a collaboration.