Watch: Nigel Farage blasted as ‘Putin-loving free speech impostor’ in US hearing
During his appearance before a US congressional hearing on Wednesday 3 September, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was accused of being a ‘Trump sycophant’ and a ‘Putin-loving free speech impostor’ by a Democrat US congressman.
Farage attended the hearing to give evidence on the state of free speech in the United Kingdom, with his testimony including a sensational comparison of the UK to North Korea.
In his opening remarks, Democratic representative Jamie Raskin accused Farage of being hypocritical in his approach to free speech, arguing that he would only seek to protect speech he agrees with.
“The dictators of the world have got nothing to fear from this hearing – the Republicans called it to attack our democratic allies in Europe. The star witness is not a human rights leader… but a far-right pro-Putin politician who leads the UK Reform party,” Raskin said.
“He calls England an authoritarian regime while saying that Vladimir Putin is the world leader he admires the most.”
Raskin also issued a warning to voters in the UK, saying that if Farage were to be elected in the UK he would erode freedom in the same way Trump has done in the United States.
“To the people of the UK who think this Putin-loving free speech impostor and Trump sycophant will protect freedom in this 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,” Raskin said.
In the evidence he gave to the hearing, Farage said he did not care what Raskin thought of him, stating that he had a right to share his views.
“You can say what you like, I don’t care, because that’s what free speech is,” Farage said.
“It doesn’t give me any great joy to be sitting in America and describing the really awful authoritarian situation that we have now sunk into.”
Farage pointed to the arrest of Lucy Connolly, who pled guilty to stirring up racial hatred against asylum seekers, and the UK’s recently implemented Online Safety Act as examples of the UK’s overreach and censorship, arguing that the latter legislation would threaten free speech across the western world.
Watch Congressman Jamie Raskin’s opening remarks in full below:
