Nigel Farage, the leader of the Reform UK party, faced a contentious appearance before a US congressional hearing on censorship, where Democrat members accused him of being a 'Putin-loving free speech impostor' and a 'Trump sycophant'. The hearing, held by the House judiciary committee, was convened by its Republican leadership, who invited Farage to testify about what he described as the 'awful authoritarian' state of free speech in the UK.
Farage missed Prime Minister's Questions to appear as a witness, a decision that drew criticism from Democrat members. Maryland Democrat Jamie Raskin suggested that Farage should instead make his case in the UK Parliament, which was sitting at the time. Raskin also questioned Farage's commitment to free speech, noting that Reform UK had banned journalists from critical organisations at its events. Farage denied knowledge of such bans, stating, 'If I go back the last 25 years, I can’t think of banning anybody.'
Democrat Jerrold Nadler questioned why the committee sought evidence from 'a fringe politician from the United Kingdom', while Hank Johnson accused Farage of advocating for free speech to solicit donations from Elon Musk. Farage countered that Musk is 'abusive about me virtually every single week, but it’s a free country.' Johnson also highlighted that Reform UK currently holds only four seats in Parliament.
Under questioning from Republican members, Farage cited the cases of Lucy Connolly, jailed for a tweet urging arson at asylum-seeker hotels, and Graham Linehan as examples of threats to free speech. He denied calling for US sanctions on Britain, instead saying he wanted American politicians and businesses to persuade the UK to change its laws.
The Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, commented on X: 'Farage has gone to the US to tell them Britain is 'awful' – If you don’t like it over here Nigel maybe don’t catch a return flight?'
