Musk, Tate, Farage, and a chilling political football
Elon Musk has seemingly rarely been out of President Donald Trump’s sights for months- and he’s turned his attention to across the Atlantic
The start of 2025 has been bizarre for British politics. Within the first week, everyone’s least favourite awkward billionaire Elon Musk has aimed at Nigel Farage, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has taken a shot back at Musk, and Andrew Tate has said he wants to have his political party. Deep breaths for what is to come.
Musk has become a constant, looming, and often boring presence on Twitter, which is of course now called X after he bought the platform. Users will have noticed an overwhelming rise in bot accounts and a clear right-wing bias which often pumps out racial hatred on an industrial scale.
The owner of the platform has contributed greatly towards this and he has recently started aiming heat towards PM Keir Starmer for not doing enough to stop the grooming gangs. The horrendous incidents of young girls being groomed and attacked is a stain on our country, but there are multiple issues with open and unchecked hatred being spouted.
Often referred to as ‘Asian grooming gangs’, painting all people from Asia with this same brush is damaging. This happens with all racial stereotyping and in this case, it’s no exception. The victims of these gangs have also been used for political points-scoring, at a time when they need protection and support more than anything else.
A further issue is that when you have accounts with such huge followings like that of Elon Musk, anything that is said will be taken as gospel by a lot of people. There is an army of people who do this for Musk, and one social media post has made headlines for the last few days.
Jess Phillips, the Labour safeguarding minister, rejected calls for a national inquiry into grooming gangs. A seven-year investigation was started in 2015, so it is a matter taken seriously. Musk labelled Phillips as ‘a rape genocide apologist’ — a term which she has hit back against but also said the abuse she has recieved has turned her world upside down.
Elsewhere on X, Musk quickly turned against Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. Musk reportedly wanted to make a large donation to the party last year, giving a similar vibe to what he has done with Trump in the USA and throwing his full weight behind a candidate from a certain end of the political spectrum.
This came after Farage said he wouldn’t welcome Tommy Robinson into the party, and if Farage is turning away from someone like Robinson it tells you just how far right Musk is. The Tesla founder said that Farage ‘doesn’t have what it takes’ to lead Reform, which led to some great discussions on social media.
If all of this wasn’t enough for you, another wonderful example of humanity claimed that he wanted to get involved with British politics. Andrew Tate, a man currently under house arrest and being investigated for sex trafficking, has launched his own party- the BRUV party. It’s been one of those weeks for the UK.
On a serious note, it is exhausting seeing these people with huge followings post their horrendous views online. Millions of people are seemingly loyal to some of the worst humans on this planet and their being in the spotlight will only, sadly, make things worse.
The people of the UK deserve better than to be the political playthings of billionaires with no real experience of reality or actual criminals, but there are still so many people out there who defend the actions of the Musks and Tates of this world. Strap in for 2025, because it’ll only get stranger.
