A hearing on free speech in Europe reportedly erupted into a combative exchange on Wednesday as Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) sparred with British politician Nigel Farage, who testified before the House Judiciary Committee.
Raskin wasted little time in his opening statement attacking Farage personally, labeling him a “far-right, pro-Putin politician” and a “Donald Trump sycophant and wannabe.”
He went further, suggesting Farage was no champion of liberty but rather a fellow traveler of authoritarian regimes. “For a man who fashions himself as some kind of a free speech martyr, Mr. Farage seems most at home with the autocrats and dictators of the world who are crushing freedom on earth,” Raskin declared.
Farage, the former leader of the U.K. Independence Party and founder of the Reform Party, responded with cutting irony. “I was delighted to reacquaint with the charming Mr. Raskin,” he said in his opening. “But hey, that’s fine, you can say what you like, I don’t care, because that’s what free speech is.”
The clash escalated when Raskin accused Farage of hypocrisy for criticizing a pro-Gaza protest in Britain. “You said that there should not have been a protest against the Gaza war in the U.K., and then when it went ahead, the police refused to shut it down. You called them gutless for not shutting it down,” Raskin charged. He pressed further: “Do you regret having opposed that, given that there was no violence there, and there were 700,000 people who wanted to express themselves that day?”
Farage clarified his position. “I have not opposed people standing up and protesting in favor of people living in Gaza at all,” he said. His objection, he explained, was specific to the date: “There was one particular day, and it was the Sunday nearest November the 11th, which was when we had big memorial services in London. And I think a march being allowed to go ahead on that day would have been a mistake. Any other day, fine.”
Raskin scoffed at the explanation: “Oh, I see. Who gets to decide that?”
Farage responded that some traditions should carry weight. “Well, I think actually something that is embedded in the country, something that is absolutely fundamental,” he said.
Raskin interrupted again, citing America’s protections: “That’s why we have a written Constitution, you might want to take that idea back to the U.K. back with you. Because the right to free speech applies 365 days a year here under the First Amendment, not 364, 363, depending on some politician’s heckling the government.”
The exchanges turned personal once more when Raskin pressed Farage about reports his Reform Party had restricted press access. “You’ve banned journalists from your political events that you disagree with, haven’t you?” Raskin asked.
“No,” Farage shot back. “I’d say the average press conference, I take 25 questions.”
Raskin pressed harder: “Why do you ban journalists who oppose your views from coming to your events?”
“I am the most open person to any journalist,” Farage replied, only for Raskin to cut him off with a sarcastic quip: “Undoubtedly the handsomest man in the world. But I’m asking you a different question.”
Farage concluded firmly, “If I go back the last 25 years, I can’t think of banning anybody. But, I mean, maybe somebody else did.”
The hearing, intended to probe the state of free expression in Europe, instead showcased the sharp partisan divide and the ease with which debates over principle can devolve into personal insult.
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