Things are getting awkward between X owner Elon Musk and Reform leader Nigel Farage.
Last week, the billionaire appeared to be lining up behind Farage to help him unseat the Tories as the default conservative party and, ultimately, make Westminster a living hell for Labour leader Keir Starmer.
Musk may still succeed in the latter, but his friendship with Farage is looking a tad shaky after the Reform leader refused to down tools and jump on the Free Tommy! trend which followed the Rotherham scandal going global.
After some passive-aggressive tweets, Elon Musk said: ‘The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.’
It is not a view I share, especially as it is difficult to name any person who has dedicated more of their life to reviving the conservative movement. Farage’s epic battle against the petty tyranny of the European Union and his restoration of British identity in politics are things that must be commended, not discarded on a whim.
On the other side, Musk’s knee-jerk reaction is understandable. He is caught up in the romanticised struggle between the toxic culture of political correctness, the corrupt state that gives shelter to monsters, and the disaster of mass migration which is causing similar criminal problems in America where Musk will soon form a critical part of Donald Trump’s team.
Dying on the hill that is Tommy Robinson is a big ask for Farage. He knows the story in far more detail and nuance than Musk and he can no doubt foresee exactly what criticisms (some of them valid) will potentially destroy Reform in the public eye before it has a chance to hatch out of its nest.
Farage does not have to Free Tommy! to tear the government apart over the Rotherham scandal. That can (and should) be left to Musk and other commentators who can throw sizeable rocks at Starmer from a safe distance. Reform is on the ground, in the thick of it, and they deserve some protection from outrage culture as they seek to bring named individuals to justice.
Imagine how difficult it will be for Farage to run a campaign of justice if he demands the overturning of Tommy’s sentence based upon the shouting of a mob. Conservatives have to be extremely careful to maintain the higher ground if they want to attain power and not end up stuck at a social media headline. Real change comes from forming a government and the people of the UK are in desperate need of good governance.
Plenty of high profile figures have been weighing in on Musk’s demand to replace Farage.
Rebel News’ Ian Miles Cheong said:
He is a spineless worm. It needs someone like Paul Golding. [Co-leader of Britain First, a nationalist political party.]
Konstantin Kisin, host of the TRIGGERnometry podcast, said:
He is the only politician in Britain with the name recognition, common touch, and charisma who can lead Reform to any kind of genuine result at the next election.
Obviously, at some point, he will have to hand over to the next generation, but that won’t be for a while and there is no one who can fill his shoes now anyway.
Raheem Kassam, editor of the National Pulse, added:
You’re a f-ing moron.
Billboard Chris suggested:
Douglas Murray would be brilliant if he ever wants the job.
Carl Benjamin (also known as Sargon of Akkad) said:
Nigel has not learned the fine art of deflecting the offer to counter-signal, and instead thrusting the proverbial bayonet at the enemy.
More importantly, what did the man himself have to say?
Nigel Farage reblogged Elon Musk with the comment:
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.
Laurence Fox offered up Rupert Lowe as an alternate leader, calling him the ‘best of the bunch’. ‘He is independently wealthy and has nothing to gain from standing for Parliament other than a desire to serve his country. He’s not in it for the money or the grandeur.’
Rebel News Australia’s Avi Yemini went for the less realistic approach: ‘Free Tommy Robinson and make him leader.’
Meanwhile Tommy Robinson’s social media account, which is under admin control while he serves his jail sentence, said: ‘Reform need to have Ben Habib as their leader. Unlike Nigel, Ben will not kowtow to the political or media establishment, he recognises the problems we face and he’s not afraid to speak his mind on them. Ben would introduce real policies that will work for the British people. Reform are at a crossroads, continue as a Ltd company dictatorship under Farage, or fully democratise, bring in a leader (Ben Habib) who will represent the working class and set our country on the right path. The choice is now.’
Ben Habib simply replied, ‘Thank you.’
And the whole thing is starting to look like a coup rather than a quest for justice.
Elon Musk also floated the idea of Rupert Lowe as the new Reform leader, saying, ‘I have not met Rupert Lowe, but his statements online that I have read so far make a lot of sense.’
This is all coming from the man who only yesterday insisted he was going to change the X algorithm to promote ‘positivity’. Instead, he has triggered a leadership crisis in one of the most important conservative movements in the West that could kill it in its crib.
One of the most damaging of Musk’s attacks on Farage is the reposting of a short video clip with a comment from RadioGenoa (the original poster) which says, ‘Nigel Farage says Reform UK must embrace Islam to win. He probably suffers from Stockholm syndrome.’ Musk added: ‘Interesting perspective.’
What Farage actually said is, ‘…if we politically alienate the whole of Islam, we will lose [the election]. By 2050, goodness knows what kind of a terrible state we’re going to be in.’
Even Candace Owens chipped in with a reality check, stating: ‘Literally nowhere on this clip does Nigel Farage say, Reform must embrace Islam.’
Let’s have a look at what Nigel Farage had to say about Tommy Robinson in 2018. It helps to provide some context to his current opinion.
‘For those of you who see [Tommy] Robinson as a hero – okay – maybe he does stand up for his point of view, but believe you me his imprisonment, in this case, is not heroic in any way at all. And that will surprise some of you.’
I opened the conversation up to Speccie readers and followers and they made some interesting observations.
‘Right or wrong, it’s up to the British people to decide their own politics. Mr Musk should know better. He will have plenty to do in the US once Trump is inaugurated.’ – Jaye Patrick.
‘Should they discard someone who did the unpopular groundwork for Brexit?’ – James Dante.
‘I don’t believe he [Musk] is actually looking to have him [Farage] ousted. He’s applying pressure to have him soften his position on Tommy Robinson and make it easier for the TR supporters to vote with Farage and Reform. I suspect he actually wants Farage to win government.’ – Raymond Stewart.
‘Elon and Nigel have both mishandled the situation. Elon has damaged [the] leader of the most conservative party in UK and Trump ally, and Nigel should have stuck to the big issue rather than making it about Tommy and his tactics.’ – Isaac.
‘Farage has lost support for Reform with his dismissive attitude to TR. All he had to do was acknowledge TR’s work in exposing the rape gangs and condemned the cover up by the authorities. TR doesn’t want a position in politics or a post in Reform, just solidarity against evil!’ – BevWeb.
We should also be clear that Reform is in no way ‘weak on grooming gangs’ or side-stepping the crisis of mass Islamic migration into the UK. The bizarre thing about social media outrage is it is often a storm in a teacup.
Many have pointed out that while they support Elon Musk’s campaign to bring the grooming gang scandal into the spotlight and, through the sheer weight of outrage, trigger political action in the direction of justice – it does not follow that the British public like having their conservative spiritual animals interfered with.
What a lot of commentators caught up in the excitement forget is that ordinary Brits, the ones a political party must rely on at the ballot box, are easily scared off by puritanical outrage.
There is a fine line between the power of social media and its evolution into dictatorial command.
Having watched this play out in detail for many years, it is clear to me that there are high profile user accounts on Musk’s wing that do not have the best interests of the West at heart and may be deliberately unseating the most promising parties and leaders with rage-bait.
It may be time to embrace the virtue of temperance. The West is after a restoration of its former grandeur, not a bloody revolution which historically installs a worse regime than it tore down.
I think Elon Musk is a brave man and intellectual leader who put his money where his mouth is to free the public voice on social media, but what we have is a difficult marriage between political figures and humanity’s idealistic dreamers. Let’s all calm down before something important breaks.