Elon Musk said on X (formerly Twitter) that the leader of Britain’s Reform UK party – Nigel Farage must step down, withdrawing his support for the Brexit campaigner who has been trying to make waves in British politics again. Taking to the microblogging platform, Musk posted “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.” This came just hours after Farage described the billionaire businessman as “a hero” who had helped make the Reform Party look “cool.”
Elon Musk’s past ties with Nigel Farage
Musk, who is close to the US President-elect Donald Trump, had seemed to support Farage in the past. He has previously posed for a photo with Farage at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in front of Ralph Wolfe Cowan’s Trump portrait The Visionary last month.
Farage, on the other hand, had also mentioned he was in talks with Musk about getting a donation to help his party challenge the dominant political groups.
Nigel Farage distances himself from Elon Musk
The Tesla CEO, in a series of X posts, has expressed support for jailed British extremist agitator Tommy Robinson, sparking a disagreement with Farage. In one of his X posts Musk asked why Tommy Robinson was “in solitary confinement prison for telling the truth?” . He further alleged that it was “for telling the truth” over a major grooming scandal that rocked Britain in the past years. Musk said Robinson “should be freed and those who covered up this travesty should take his place in that cell”. Elon Musk has also called out UK PM Keir Starmer for his alleged inaction against ‘Pakistani grooming gangs’.
Farage said that Musk saw 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,” he added.
Farage replied to Musk’s post, saying, “Well, this is a surprise! Elon is a remarkable individual but on this I am afraid I disagree.”
“My view remains that Tommy Robinson is not right for Reform and I never sell out my principles,” he added.
