Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has distanced himself from Tommy Robinson, a controversial far-right figure who is currently imprisoned and has recently received backing from tech billionaire and X owner Elon Musk.
“I never wanted Tommy Robinson to join UKIP,” Farage’s former party, the Brexit champion said Friday evening. “I don’t want him to join Reform UK; and he won’t be” joining the group, Farage said.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is the founder of the far-right English Defense League. He has been organizing large-scale anti-immigration rallies across the United Kingdom in recent months, attracting widespread social media attention on Musk’s X.
Robinson was banned from Twitter in 2018 for violating its guidelines on “hateful content,” but his account was reinstated last year following Musk’s takeover and rebranding of the platform. He is currently serving an 18-month prison sentence for breaching a court order relating to false claims about a Syrian schoolboy he had made in a documentary.
In the latest in a flurry of controversial political comments, Musk this week endorsed Robinson’s documentary and called on the British authorities to release him.
Musk’s comments sparked a backlash among British politicians. Labour MP Stella Creasy told POLITICO that Musk’s support for Robinson “shows just how big a problem he is for democracy.”
The billionaire tech entrepreneur met with Farage last month at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago complex in Florida, where they discussed a potential donation to the Reform UK party.
Farage on Friday sang Musk’s praises, describing him as “an absolute hero figure, particularly to young people.” Farage said he was “very helpful to our cause.”
“He has a whole range of opinions, some of which I agree with very strongly, and others of which I’m more reticent about,” Farage said.
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