Last month X owner Elon Musk – a close ally of the US President Donald Trump – attacked Nigel Farage, saying “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead the right-wing Reform UK.
Nigel Farage has claimed he won’t be bullied after he was asked “how embarrassing” it was for Elon Musk to call for him to be replaced as Reform UK leader.
The ex-Ukip leader Mr Farage also sidestepped a question on whether the billionaire X owner could be trusted after their clash last month.
In January Mr Musk – a close ally of the US President Donald Trump – attacked Mr Farage, saying “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead the right-wing Reform UK.
The clash came after weeks of speculation the world’s richest man was considering donating hundreds of millions of dollars to the party. But appearing on the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme Mr Farage was asked on Monday “how embarrassing what is for you” after getting close to the Tesla founder.
Presenter Emma Barnett said: “How embarrassing was it for you when the key Trump adviser Elon Musk – someone you and your party is getting close to – says your party needs to get rid of you and you don’t have what it takes. Is that embarrassing?”
Mr Farage replied: “Elon’s Elon, he says a lot of things.” Ms Barnett shot back: “I don’t know him, does he?”
The Reform UK leader went on: “He wanted me to go along a line I didn’t want to go down. I don’t get bullied by anybody. I stand up for the principles I believe in. Since then we’ve had very cordial relations.”
Pressed on whether he now trusted Mr Musk’s judgement after the clash, Mr Farage sidestepped the question. He said: “Elon has an awful lot of opinions, some of which I agree with, some of which I don’t.”
Last week it was also reported Mr Musk had downplayed the possibility of giving a donation to Reform UK in a further humiliation for Mr Farage. The tech billionaire told an associate that it will be difficult to pump cash into the political party now he is part of Donald Trump’s government in the US, the Financial Times reported.
Musk has joined the administration as the head of DOGE – the Department of Government Efficiency – which is a unit focused on cutting supposedly wasteful spending across official agencies.
Speaking to the BBC Mr Farage also said the UK could be “friendly” with the EU but did not outline exactly what that should entail after Mr Starmer met EU leaders in Brussels in pursuit of a reset with the bloc. The Reform UK leader was asked why he does not see it as a good move for Labour to seek closer trading ties with the EU after pledging to do so in its manifesto.
“You can have negotiations, you can be friendly, you can do all those things. But if we start to tie ourselves to industrial collaboration, as appears was agreed last night, then we find ourselves with less flexibility in doing deals with countries like America,” he replied.
Asked about polls showing many Britons want closer ties, he said: “We voted to leave. That was very, very clear. We can be friendly, we can be co-operative.”