One can only dream of sections of the right-wing press in the UK holding Farage to account in the same way.
A US congressman is being praised for taking apart Nigel Farage is a blistering speech, in which he highlighted the Reform UK leader’s hypocrisy over free speech and his cosying up to dictators and autocrats.
Rather than return to Parliament after the summer recess, Farage decided to once more jet off to the U.S. where he not only rubbed shoulders with Trump loyalists but also to attend a Congressional inquiry into freedom of speech, where he falsely claimed that freedom of speech is under attack in the UK.
As part of evidence given to the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, Farage said: “On the question of civil liberties, Britain has, unfortunately, now lost her way.
“I will do my part, as a participant in UK democracy, to help our country find its way back to the traditional freedoms which have long bound together our two countries in friendship.”
However, one Congressman was having none of it. Jamie Raskin, the U.S. representative for Maryland’s 8th congressional district since 2017, slammed Farage as a “Putin-loving free speech imposter”.
In a blistering speech, Mr Raskin said: “To the people of the UK who think this Putin-loving free speech imposter and Trump sycophant will protect freedom in your country, come on over to America and see what Trump and Maga are doing to destroy our freedom … You might think twice before you let Mr Farage ‘make Britain great again’.”
He also told Farage there is ‘no free speech crisis in Britain’, and added: “UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has not shutdown GB News where Mr Farage has his own show, just because Mr Farage has used his airtime to call for banning peaceful protests that he disagrees with, no one has stopped him from going on Russian TV, 17 times and saying that the one world political leader he most admired is Vladimir Putin, even though Putin is a war criminal and dictator.”
One can only dream of sections of the right-wing press in the UK holding Farage to account in the same way. Indeed, in just over two minutes, a US congressman has done more to expose Nigel Farage’s hypocrisy on free speech and his love of autocrats and dictators like Putin, than sections of the press in the UK have for decades.
British-American journalist and commentator Mehdi Hasan posted on X: “I have spent years saying I wished the US were more like the UK when it comes to tough interviews, but here’s a turning of the tables: @jamie_raskin grilling @Nigel_Farage in a way the UK media rarely does.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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