Elon Musk’s father backed his son’s criticism of Nigel Farage saying that ‘he’s not strong enough to be the leader’ that Britain ‘need at the moment.’
The X owner and world’s richest man sensationally turned on Mr Farage earlier this week calling for his removal as the Reform UK leader because he does not ‘have what it takes’.
His father Errol Musk has now given similar condemnation describing Mr Farage as ‘not a rare person’ and said that the country is ‘heading in the wrong direction’.
On Sunday, Elon Musk lashed out on his social media platform at his supposed ally, after spending the past week wading into British politics over sex abuse gangs.
Mr Farage referred to Musk as his ‘American friend’ earlier that morning and refused to criticise him over remarks he made about Sir Keir Starmer and senior ministers which have been branded inflammatory.
Asked by Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain whether he has spoken to his son about his remarks about Mr Farage, Errol said: ‘Initially I was the first one to say that I think that Farage is somebody that I don’t think he is a rare person.
‘He is not strong enough to be the leader that you need at the moment.
‘You need a really strong leader. Somebody who is prepared to be ultimately crucified, not to lose the odd cigarette or something like that because of the pressure on him.
Elon Musk’s father backed his son’s criticism of Nigel Farage saying that ‘he’s not strong enough to be the leader that you need at the moment’
Errol Musk described Mr Farage as ‘not a rare person’ and said that the country is ‘heading in the wrong direction’.
In the last few months, Musk (left) has emerged as one of Donald Trump’s (right) closest allies
‘You need someone who is really prepared to put themselves on the line.
‘You are heading in the wrong direction in your country and so initially I just said he is not a strong enough person but Elon followed that up by he has just got to go.
‘And then I was asking him, look it is England after all, we are trying to be fair people.
The tech billionaire called for Mr Farage to be replaced as Reform UK’s leader, triggered by Mr Farage’s rejection of pressure from Mr Musk to join forces with Robinson. Musk has also called for Sir Keir Starmer to be jailed accusing the PM of being ‘complicit in the rape of Britain’ over the grooming gangs scandal.
His row with Mr Farage came despite a recent warm meeting at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and rumours that the Twitter owner wanted to donate as much as $100million (£79million) to Reform.
Robinson, who was jailed for 18 months in October for contempt of court, was a member of the far-right BNP and any supporter of that group will never be welcome in his party, Mr Farage said on Monday.
Mr Farage told MailOnline: ‘I am sorry that Elon disagrees and I doubt that he knows the full story about Robinson, my principles are clear and I don’t change them for anyone. Extremism is not welcome in Reform’.
Reform Party Leader Mr Farage told MailOnline that he believes Elon Musk doesn’t know the full story about Tommy Robinson, adding that no former BNP member is welcome in Reform UK
Elon Musk and Nigel Farage, pictured at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, have had a row triggered by Musk’s support for Tommy Robinson
Mr Farage has again distanced his party from Robinson, who is serving an 18-month prison sentence for contempt of court which began in October. Mr Farage said that Robinson should not be held in solitary confinement – but stopped short of calling for his release
He went on: ‘I am the leader of Reform UK and we are growing fast and trying to win the next general election. This man would not be an asset to our party and we do believe in the rule of law. No former BNP members are welcome in our party’.
Although the Reform leader also admitted that he believes that ‘much’ of what Robinson says about Islam ‘is right’.
It came as Musk took more transatlantic potshots at Mr Farage, sharing a video of the Brexiteer last year saying that there must be a crackdown on Muslim extremism in Britain but you cannot ‘politically alienate the whole of Islam’ in Britain.
Musk has said that Robinson is a political prisoner who should be released from jail. Mr Farage does not agree.
‘Tommy Robinson campaigns against Islam. Much of what he says is right and, despite repeatedly breaking the law, he should not be held in solitary confinement’, Mr Farage said.
After Mr Farage said Robinson was not welcome in the party, Musk called for him to be removed in a surprise attack in which the world’s richest man declared: ‘Farage doesn’t have what it takes.’
Susanna Reid, 54, was hosting the breakfast show alongside Ed Balls when the pair welcomed Elon Musk’s father Errol, who called in live from Cape Town, South Africa via a video link.
But the interview soon got out of hand as Errol soon started comparing Robinson to Nelson Mandela and shared his thoughts on a referendum in Canada.
Susanna Reid, 54, was brutally scolded during an awkward moment on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday
Ms Reid first asked the father of the billionaire Tesla owner for his thoughts on his son, 53.
The doting father quickly snapped back, calling her question ‘stupid’ before the host tried to defend herself.
Ms Reid said: ‘I’m very interested, Errol, firstly in your analysis of your own son, Elon, is he a genius or completely bonkers?’
Errol replied: ‘Of course he’s a genius, that’s ridiculous, what a stupid question!’.
Ms Reid responded: ‘Well, people have asked if he is in fact a madman and certainly there’s a degree of madness in being a genius!’.
She was forced to step in as the conversation drifted away from Elon and said: ‘Right, Errol, thank you very much indeed but I feel that we’re drifting slightly from the core issues for our audience’.
The presenter was clearly frustrated with Errol Musk’s bizarre rant and cut him off before shuffling some papers and addressing viewers.
She said: ‘I think we slightly drifted away from how democracy works and the legal system in this country as well.’
Ms Reid was also forced to step in as the conversation drifted away from Elon and on to Canadian election and Nelson Mandela
While Mr Balls added: ‘I love the idea of somebody being relatively innocent.’
However Ms Reid didn’t agree and instead just sighed and rolled her eyes before moving on.
However the billionaire’s dad couldn’t help but quip: ‘I don’t see anybody weeping about any of the things Tommy Robinson has done.
‘The government need to release Tommy Robinson [from prison]… it’s insane what’s happening in this country.’
Mr Balls went on to asked Errol if Elon wanted to become Britain’s Prime Minister after his furious online rants against the British government earlier this month.
Errol laughed and shot back: ‘I think he needs to take a few steps down you know. I think he’s alright where he is.
‘The situation in England now is interesting to all English-speaking people around the world. There’s no question about it.
‘We were talking about Farage [but] he’s out. I’m done with Farage.’
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage during a pre-recorded interview for the BBC1 current affairs programme, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, where he praised Musk as a ‘hero’
This isn’t the first time Errol has made wild claims as yesterday he revealed that his billionaire tycoon son has previously expressed an interest in buying Premier League team Liverpool, to which he has family connections.
‘Has he expressed a desire to buy Liverpool Football Club?’ a reporter asked Errol Musk on Times Radio in London.
‘I can’t comment on that. They’ll raise the price,’ the father of the richest man in the world said, while laughing.
When asked again, Musk conceded that his son has shown interest in purchasing Liverpool, still remaining coy on the matter, and refusing to declare any concrete negotiations.
‘Oh, yes. But that doesn’t mean he’s buying it,’ he replied. ‘He would like to yes, obviously. Anybody would want to – so would I!
When asked why Musk is specifically interested in Liverpool, his father revealed that his family have generational ties to the Merseyside city.
‘His grandmother was born in Liverpool, and we had relatives in Liverpool, and we were fortunate to know quite a lot of the Beatles because they grew up with some of my family. So, we are attached to Liverpool, you know,’ he told Times Radio.
Elon Musk has previously described his grandmother, who was born in 1923 and died in 2011 aged 87, as ‘an important part’ of his childhood, which included time spent on Merseyside as young child on holiday.
Cora Amelia (Robinson) Musk (left) with Musk’s grandfather, Walter Henry James Musk (right)
Elon Musk (second from left) at a family wedding in Canada attended by his British-born ‘Nana’ Cora (bottom row, far right) in 2001. She was born in Liverpool in 1923 and died in South Africa in 2011 aged 87
‘My Nana was one of the poor working-class girls with no one to protect her who might have been abducted in present day Britain’, he said on X.
‘She was very strict, but also kind and I could always count on her. She grew up very poor in England during the Great Depression only to be bombed in WW2’, he said.
‘To earn money for food, she cleaned houses, leaving me with a lasting respect for those who do so’.
The South African-born Tesla tycoon once proudly declared he was ‘from a British/English not an Afrilkaner background’.
When Margaret Thatcher died in 2013, the entrepreneur paid tribute on Twitter – which he now owns and has rebranded as X – saying the late Prime Minister was ‘tough but sensible and fair like my English Nana’.
His grandmother, Cora Amelia Robinson, was one of five siblings born in the family’s modest terraced house in Mossley Hill, Liverpool in August 1923.
She grew up in pre-war poverty as part of a ‘proud, hard-working family’ before leaving the UK to settle in South Africa where she married Walter Musk in 1944.
The couple went on to have a son Errol who had three children of his own – Elon, brother Kimbal and sister Tosca. As well as the north west, Musk also has relatives elsewhere in England.