AP Photo/Susan Walsh
Conservative UK talking heads and media stars hit back at Elon Musk after he turned on Nigel Farage, a longtime ally of President-elect Donald Trump, to recommend Reform UK drop him.
The billionaire owner of X took aim at Farage over the weekend after the Brexiteer refused to back Musk’s calls for jailed far-right activist Tommy Robinson to be released from prison. Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is serving an 18-month sentence for contempt of court.
Farage, clearly blindsided by the attack, politely said he “disagreed” with Musk on the issue and on the idea he should be replaced. He later noted that Musk is misguided in lionizing “Robinson as one of these people that fought against the grooming gangs. But of course, the truth is Tommy Robinson’s in prison not for that, but for contempt of court.”
“We’re a political party aiming to win the next general election. He’s not what we need,” Farage added.
Musk’s incendiary foray into UK politics began with criticism of the Labour government for its refusal
The crimes have been subject to a string of local inquiries and a 2014 state-commissioned report, which concluded in 2022. In that investigative study, Professor Alexis Jay concluded that 1,400 vulnerable children were sexually abused in the northern English town of Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.
Jay pointed to the “collective failures” within the care system and found local authorities failed to confront the perpetrators partly because some officials feared accusations of racism.
The report’s damning conclusions, along with findings from a subsequent local inquiry into exploitation in Oldham, have since become a returning focus for some on the right.
While British conservatives initially sat tight as Musk tangled with Labour, the attack on Farage opened the feud up as those in British media hit back.
Journalist Isabel Oakeshott, who is in a relationship with Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice, went from bring “glad” Musk was getting “stuck in” to UK politics on Friday to a flat rejection of his Robinson and Farage remarks on Sunday.
Former Breitbart editor Raheem Kassam replied bluntly: “You are a fucking moron.”
Meanwhile, TalkTV host Julia Hartley-Brewer lamented of Musk: “Power has gone to his head even before Trump takes office. This won’
“No Farage, No Reform,” wrote Kelvin Mackenzie, GB News columnist and veteran editor for The Sun.
Meanwhile, businessman Arron Banks, co-founder of the pro-Brexit Leave.EU campaign and Farage project megadonor mocked Musk’s jibe as fickle, pointing to his previous u-turn from Trump-hater to Trump ally.