Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, has stated that he doesn’t agree with Elon Musk’s stance on imprisoned far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson. Musk recently spoke out in support of Yaxley-Lennon, who was incarcerated in October after he repeated false statements regarding a Syrian refugee. The reform UK party leader has previously shown his support for Musk, meeting with him in Florida to discuss X, the social media site which allegedly aided Donald Trump in becoming US president. While Musk’s position on Yaxley-Lennon is clearly problematic for Farage, who has stated he doesn’t want the activist to be associated with his party, he still believes that Musk has a lot to offer to political discourse.
Speaking at the Reform UK’s East Midlands conference in Leicester on Friday, Farage admitted that Musk has “a whole range of opinions, some of which I agree with very strongly, and others of which I am more reticent about.” Musk is still viewed by Farage as a “remarkable new entrant” into US politics. He went so far as to label Musk as a “hero” for purchasing Twitter, as this has supposedly helped return free speech to the internet.
Even though the South African born entrepreneur’s donation to Reform UK is said to be sizeable, Farage is keen to distance himself from his views on Yaxley-Lennon, who is deeply unpopular amongst the majority of the UK population. Furthermore, it seems like Musk’s recent criticism of the government’s handling of grooming gangs has caused a great deal of controversy. Health Secretary Wes Streeting labelled it as “misjudged and certainly misinformed,” while others have criticised Musk for promoting inaccuracies.
Despite these concerns, Farage remains convinced that his association with Musk is beneficial to Reform UK. While the CEO of Tesla may not be popular with everyone, he has certainly made his mark on the political landscape
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