Raheem Kassam, Editor-in-Chief of The National Pulse, believes European populists such as Nigel Farage should be wary of accepting money from Elon Musk and other “tech bros” who may seek to alter their agenda. Speaking to Puck’s Tara Palmeri on the Somebody’s Gotta Win podcast, Kassam also predicted tech sector leaders entering D.C. politics as President-elect Donald J. Trump reclaims the White House may have a rude awakening when things do not go their way.
Kassam told Palmeri that Musk, possibly the world’s richest man, seeks power and influence rather than more money. This explains his political activities not only in the United States and the United Kingdom but also in countries where he has relatively weak personal ties, such as Italy.
HE WHO PAYS THE PIPER.
The former senior adviser to Nigel Farage—leader of Britain’s Reform Party—recommended that the Brexit leader not accept the donations the Tesla owner has been considering offering to Reform. This is not only because Farage could not run a U.S.-style political campaign with the money due to British campaign laws but also because Musk—who recently said he wishes to replace Farage as party leader—could negatively influence the party’s direction.
“I think they should refuse it, and I do think I’ve changed my mind on it, having seen how he’s behaved,” referencing incidents such as Musk pushing Trump to embrace legalized mass migration through H-1B visas.
“I always give Soros as the example,” he said, explaining how, before the Hungarian-born plutocrat and other corporate donors came along, the Democratic Party “still classed itself as a pro-American worker party; a pro-union party… an anti-war party, and then suddenly all these corporate donors… come along and fundamentally change [the party].”
He recalled how the same transformation overtook the Tea Party movement, which was “completely bought and sold” by the neoliberal Koch brothers.
THE TECH BROS GO TO WASHINGTON.
Kassam predicted the “socially awkward” tech bros who have injected themselves into the America First movement may struggle to adapt to Washington politics, not least since they include “lots of people who aren’t used to being told ‘no.'”
“[M]y biggest worry is that a lot those tech bros have subscribed to a political philosophy where they truly believe that democracy, American democracy, representative democracy, is passé,” Kassam said.
“[P]eople are right to be extremely, extremely skeptical of those people,” he added. However, he stressed that the fact that he and other established figures in the conservative movement are alive to the danger, as demonstrated by the pushback to H-1B migrants, means there is hope the newcomers’ worst tendencies can be kept at bay.
