Elon Musk has dramatically embarrassed Nigel Farage by calling for Reform to appoint a new UK leader.
The billionaire claimed Mr Farage “doesn’t have what it takes” and said the party needs a new person in charge on a post on Twitter. The unexpected call for change came just hours after a fawning Mr Farage branded him a “hero” and said his support makes his party “look cool”. Musk posted: “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes,” reports the Mirror.
Farage responded on Twitter and hinted that the row was over the appointment of Tommy Robinson to Reform.
He posted: “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.”
It follows weeks of cosying up together, with Farage suggesting that Musk could be about to plough billions into his party. In a TV interview screened this morning, the Reform leader refused to condemn him for an attack on Keir Starmer and Jess Phillips which have been branded a “disgraceful smear”.
In an interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, the Reform UK leader said: “He may well give us money. Whether he does or not, I think what he gives us with huge numbers of young people, he makes us look cool.”
In recent days Musk, a key advisor to Donald Trump, has said Tommy Robinson should be freed from jail and voiced his support for Germany’s far-right AfD party. He has also given his backing to Reform, meeting Mr Farage and new treasurer Nick Candy at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort last month.
Before the friendship soured Mr Farage refused to hit out at Musk. He said the billionaire had used “very tough terms” but “in public life, tough things get said”.
Asked if he was reluctant to criticise Mr Musk because of a potential donation, Mr Farage said: “I think I made it perfectly clear that I don’t agree with everything he stands for, but I do believe in free speech. I think he’s a hero, and I said that well before any potential money was offered.”
However, he hinted at disagreements between the two, stating: “The fact that Musk supports me and supports Reform doesn’t mean as two grown ups, we have to agree with everything the other says.”
The Twitter owner sparked outrage by claiming Home Office Minister Jess Phillips should be jailed and Mr Starmer should be ousted after the Government rejected a national inquiry into grooming gangs.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting accused Musk of a “disgraceful smear”, and said MPs remain focused on implementing recommendations from a string of previous inquiries. He said: “They’re people who have done in their professional lives more than most people will ever do to lock up paedophiles, rapists, wife beaters and every other kind of scumbag.
“As director of prosecutions, Keir Starmer opened up historic cases going after people who thought they’d gotten away with it. He put in place specialist prosecutors to make sure that we could build the evidence to put rapists behind bars.”
And hitting out at Musk’s attacks on Ms Phillips, Mr Streeting told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “It is a disgraceful smear of a great woman who has spent her life supporting victims of the kind of violence that Elon Musk and others say that they’re against.
“And it’s all very well sitting there, and I’m not just talking about Musk – I’m talking about armchair critics on social media – It’s all very easy to sit there and fire off something in haste and click send, when people like Keir Starmer and Jess Phillips have done the hard yards of actually locking up wife beaters, rapists, paedophiles.”
He said: “Their critics are not fit to touch their records.”
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