Monday, 6 January 2025

Musk turns on Farage

The love-in between Nigel Farage and Reform UK’s potential mega-donor Elon Musk, the world’s richest moron, is no more. What promised to be a game-changer in British politics seems to have come to an abrupt end. Yesterday Musk tweeted (or should I say X’ed?) that Farage was the wrong man to lead Reform. Apparently Farage doesn't "have what it takes" presumably meaning that he isn’t sufficiently racist, which will be a surprise to most of us. It obviously caught Nigel on the hop since he had appeared on Laura Kuenssberg’s Sunday morning political show a few hours before, defending Musk, a man he has claimed "backs our party" and has referred to as “a hero.”

This is what Musk said along with Farage's rather subdued response:

It seems that Musk’s call for the release of Tommy Robinson (AKA Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) the far-right thug recently jailed for contempt of court, was too much even for Farage.

I think this tells us two things. First, you don't need to be clever or knowledgeable to become filthy rich. Musk seems to think Reform UK could survive without Farage as leader. He has clearly done zero research and has no understanding of the party which is nothing less than Farage's personal fiefdom and a vehicle for enriching him.  Without him, the party would be nothing more than an irritant in the UK body politic.

In any case, Reform UK Party Ltd is simply a UK business of which Farage is the majority shareholder

The notion there is another person in the ranks who is remotely capable of taking over Farage's company or creating a new one from scratch is fanciful, to say the least. Richard Tice, his partner in crime, has had one go at leadership and knows he can't match Farage's charisma among that sector of the population which Reform needs to stand any chance of winning power. The only other high-profile MP in the party is Lee Anderson who hasn't got two brain cells to rub together.

Moreover, Musk should have consulted Professor Tim Bale who has been polling Reform members and has found Farage is very popular. Bale says:

"Digging a little deeper into the darker side of Reform UK members’ views on leadership only strengthens the impression that Farage is very much the right man in the right job."

Only 14% of party members said they didn’t like “charismatic leaders who show off every now and then”, as against 55% who did. A mere 5% weren’t keen on “leaders who can give as good as they get on social media”, whereas 81% were. And a whopping 96% said they were into “leaders who aren't afraid of speaking bluntly and stirring up a bit of controversy”.

Secondly, the move may eventually prove to be a blessing in disguise for Reform UK. While $100 million would come in handy, being associated with an increasingly drug-addled and deranged plutocrat would almost certainly have ended badly for them.

Musk has attacked Kier Starmer and Jess Phillips and written an op-ed in a German newspaper in support of the neo-Nazi AFD party. Trump has alienated Mexico, Greenland, Denmark and Canada. We are talking here of America's main allies. Note we never hear any hint of criticism of Putin, and little against Xi Jing Ping in China where Musk has significant business interests.

What about his insane suggestion that the USA overthrow the British government?:

The uber-aggressive bizarreness continues. This is straight-up hostility against British democracy.

[image or embed]

— Mike Galsworthy (@mikegalsworthy.bsky.social) 6 January 2025 at 08:13

We are looking at a man who is literally going mad.

This morning, I see Musk has been discussing his use of ketamine, a drug used primarily in hospitals as an anesthetic but which is increasingly being explored as a potential treatment for depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. He admits to using “a small amount once every other week or something like that.”

My experience is that people with an addiction almost always play it down, so I suspect he is taking more of it than he is admitting to. Musk says: “There are times when I have sort of a … negative chemical state in my brain, like depression I guess, or depression that’s not linked to any negative news, and ketamine is helpful for getting one out of the negative frame of mind."

Of course, he denies any suggestion he uses it excessively. He says: “if you use too much ketamine, you can’t really get work done. I have a lot of work, I’m typically putting in 16-hour days … so I don’t really have a situation where I can be not mentally acute for an extended period of time.”

Musk's rise to the top of US politics has come on the back of Donald Trump and an investment of $270 million of his personal wealth in the Trump campaign. However, I would be surprised if Musk is still there in twelve months.

Trump is not the sort of man who likes to share the limelight and I'm not sure there is room in the White House for two completely unhinged megalomaniacs.

 

Posted by at