Education secretary Gavin Williamson has embarrassed himself after mixing up Manchester United star Marcus Rashford with rugby player Maro Itoje.
He is said to have spoken about enjoying a chat with Rashford via Zoom, only for his own team to point out that they’ve never actually spoken, and that he was probably referring to his call with Saracens and England ace Itoje instead.
Oh dear.
Tom Newton Dunn, as seen in the tweet below, covered the unfortunate judgement from Williamson, which has really left egg splattered all over his face.
This is unfortunate…
'Has Gavin Williamson ever met Marcus Rashford? “We met over Zoom and he seemed incredibly engaged, compassionate and charming". Later Williamson’s team tell me he actually met the rugby player Maro Itoje, not Rashford.'https://t.co/Ya5NvtuLgn
— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) September 8, 2021
Rashford saw the funny side and joked that Williamson should have known from the accent that it wasn’t him. On top of that, Itoje took to social media to confirm that he isn’t Rashford.
Accent could have been a giveaway 🤣 https://t.co/CO2oQjiZZ6
— Marcus Rashford MBE (@MarcusRashford) September 8, 2021
Due to recent speculation I thought it was necessary to confirm that I am not Marcus Rashford… And whilst we are here my name is not Mario either!! Just a simple Maro Itoje will do…
Much love,
Marcu… I mean Maro Itoje
— Maro Itoje (@maroitoje) September 8, 2021
The Guardian claims Williamson insisted he’d made a genuine mistake but after all of the work Rashford has done off the pitch, even helping the UK Government, you would think all MPs would be able to identify one of the most important footballers in the country.
Labour MP David Lammy described the mistake as “appalling” in an attack on Williamson.
A really poor mistake to make.