The behavior of the multi-billionaire highlights the great dilemma of right-wing parties today: you cannot live with populists, but you also cannot live without them.
It is impossible not to laugh at Elon Musk’s recent statement that Nigel Farage “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead the “Reform UK” party. For months, Farage had been campaigning on his closeness to Donald Trump and his inner circle. There was even much speculation about a large financial donation being made to this opposition party by Elon Musk. Just hours before Musk’s silencing statement, Farage had described the owner of platform X as a “hero” and a “friend” who had made his party look “very fashionable.”
And just when everything was going so well for Farage, Musk is trying to remove him from leading his party. Some say that focusing on Musk is wrong, and that the real issue is the abuse of young white girls by gangs of Pakistani origin, which Musk spoke about on Twitter last week.
It is certainly true that what happened in cities like Rotherham, Telford, Rochdale, and Oldham was a horrendous scandal in which authorities failed to protect hundreds of young girls from abuse. There is justified concern that considerations for community cohesion prevented necessary actions from being taken.
It is right to ask whether we are doing everything we can to prevent such events from happening again in the future. But this issue is current not because of any major new development in history, but because of Musk’s involvement.
Musk’s comments were prompted by Jess Phillips, a senior official in the Home Office, rejecting a request by Oldham city councilors to launch a further national investigation into the abuse of underage girls. The decision was announced in October last year, and at the time, it attracted little attention. But this is hardly surprising, as a similar request had been rejected in September 2022 by a Conservative minister regarding a similar case.
In the end, there had already been a national public inquiry into child abuse (although not specifically about the aforementioned gangs) led by Alexis Jay, the results of which were made public in October 2022. Should this story have received more attention than it has so far? Yes, but it hasn’t been ignored by the mainstream media. It was mainly brought to light by the work of journalist Andrew Norfolk, who worked for the Sunday Times. It has also been covered by other newspapers, and documentaries have been made on the BBC and other television channels.
It is also true that this is a story exploited by bad actors. Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who calls himself Tommy Robinson, has used this scandal as a tool to stir racial divisions. Given the nature of Musk’s interventions—labeling Phillips as an advocate of genocidal rape and accusing Keir Starmer of being a “collaborator,” while calling for the imprisonment of both—it is clear that the owner of X is also a bad actor.
If we consider Musk’s prediction from last summer, that Great Britain is heading towards a “civil war,” his demand for Robinson’s release from prison and for King Charles to call for new parliamentary elections, as well as his suggestion that the United States “must free the people of Great Britain from their tyrannical government,” one might also ask if he himself is a mad actor.
This does not mean that he is not a powerful figure. Musk is the richest man in the world, owns platform X, which ensures that his views are spread far and wide, and (for now) is very close to the elected president of the United States, Donald Trump. It was his decision to address this issue by making sharp accusations that amplified the weight of the British gang scandal. One can understand why the government tried to avoid confronting him.
However, his brutal language toward Phillips and Starmer went too far to be ignored. It was predictable and disappointing that both the “Reform UK” party and the Conservative Party were willing to follow Elon Musk’s agenda without properly distancing themselves from his rhetoric. He is a powerful and dangerous man, whose only limit is that he does not know how to skillfully wield his political power. Musk’s best opportunity for political influence in the UK would be in a close partnership with Nigel Farage.
Instead, he is trying to remove Farage from the leadership of Reform, an act that would fatally weaken the party. Musk is unpopular in the UK, and Starmer’s willingness to confront him—after the Prime Minister has been fiercely attacked in recent months—could give Starmer even more popularity.
For right-wing parties, Elon Musk should also be a cautionary tale. Because he articulates and implements right-wing populism, designed specifically to attract those angry at social changes. For this, there is a clear appetite among Western electorates.
But the rift with Farage reveals how difficult it is to exploit this force without risking being left out or embracing political extremes. The Conservatives repositioned themselves as a populist party in 2019, but the realities of duty and the contradictions within their electoral coalition disappointed many populist voters. In 2024, many of them turned to the simple reassurances offered by Farage.
Now, Farage is aiming to expand his support base by attacking figures like Robinson. But this approach is driving away some of his supporters, who accuse him of being a sellout and not having “what it takes.” Now, Musk is doing to Farage what Farage has long done to the British Conservatives.
You can win many votes by appealing to populists, but in the end, you must draw a line with them, or you will end up in a very dark place. But as Musk’s behavior suggests, a dark place is the destination some want to go to.
The behavior of the multi-billionaire highlights the great dilemma of right-wing parties today: you cannot live with populists, but you also cannot live without them.
CREATED by:
“KORÇA BOOM”
