Nigel Farage has given an interview with the German publication Zeit in which he came under attack from a reporter so self-absorbed that it is puzzling how he could call himself a serious interviewer.
Throughout the interview, Farage defended himself against a line of questioning that was absurd, pompous, self-important and downright immaterial. It was less of an endeavour to have a civilised question and answer session than it was a total hatchet job wrapped up in a police style interrogation.
The arrogant interviewer found himself on the receiving end of Nigel Farage’s justifiable indignation when he posed questions about whether Farage had any connections with Russia. The interviewer asked the questions as though he presumed that Farage did have connections to Russia when no such revelations have ever come to the fore, not that there would be anything wrong with having connections with Russia.
The interviewer asked preemptively if Farage’s Brexit campaign was financed in any way by Russia. Farage responded by saying,
“No Russian money at all. That’s ridiculous. What you are talking about is conspiracy. I never received a penny from Russia. I wouldn’t have taken it, even if it had been offered. This campaign wasn’t about money. It was about messages, good clear messages”.
The interviewer then asked Farage about his appearances on RT. Farage responded by saying that he appears on international media outlets throughout the year, including in Zeit.
Things turned even more sour when the self-righteous interviewer asked about Nigel Farage’s recent meeting with Julian Assange. The exchange relating to Assange is reproduced below.
“ZEIT ONLINE: Why did you meet with Julian Assange in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London?
Farage: Oh, for journalistic reasons.
ZEIT ONLINE: What? Because you want to write a story about the WikiLeaks founder?
Farage: For journalistic reasons. I will not say anything more about that. But I did it for journalistic reasons, not for political reasons.
ZEIT ONLINE: What do you mean when you say, “journalistic reasons?”
Farage: I will not say anything more about that. If you look at what I do today, I used to do politics 100 hours a week. But now I do politics for 40 hours a week, so I have got a lot of time to do other things. I am a Fox News contributor. I am an LBC presenter. I write.
ZEIT ONLINE: You have transformed yourself from a politician to an entertainer?
Farage: Perhaps.
ZEIT ONLINE: Entertainers tend to be paid well for the job.
Farage: Yes, some people really get paid for it.
ZEIT ONLINE: So you were sent by someone to speak to Julian Assange? What did you talk about?
Farage: It has nothing to do with you. It was a private meeting.
ZEIT ONLINE: You just said it was a journalistic meeting, for the public.
Farage: Of course.
ZEIT ONLINE: Are you going to publish an article soon about your connections to WikiLeaks and your meeting with Assange?
Farage: You will have to wait and see. I meet lots of people all over the world. I always help them.”
Things continued along this line when the interview again turned things back to Russia. Yet again, Farage would have none of it,
“ZEIT ONLINE: One of Russia’s foreign policy goals is dividing and weakening the EU. Could it be that in the case of Brexit, you were directly or indirectly used for this Russian goal?
Farage: It is obvious that the EU wants to expand to the east and threatens Russia. That’s completely mad.
ZEIT ONLINE: What you say isn’t true. It wasn’t the EU that triggered the revolution in Ukraine, but the Ukrainians who wanted better relations with the EU.
Farage: I want the EU to be destroyed and it doesn’t matter if God or the Dalai Lama wants it was well. The EU is an anti-democratic, failing structure. You know, you are the first person who has asked me if Russia supported me. Maybe you have a special German mindset. No other journalist in the world has asked these questions.
ZEIT ONLINE: I just want to understand your role.
Farage: We have no links to Russia.
ZEIT ONLINE: You didn’t meet with the Russian Embassy’s deputy chief-of-mission in London?
Farage: Nope.
ZEIT ONLINE: Not in 2013, before the Brexit campaign was conceived?
Farage: Ah, hang on. He came to the EP office. Or I met with him in London. So what?
ZEIT ONLINE: Why did you meet with him?
Farage: I think you are a nutcase! You are really a nutcase! Brexit is the best thing to happen: for Russia, for America, for Germany and for democracy. And that’s the key point.
ZEIT ONLINE: The United Kingdom’s economy, along with the economies of the remaining EU countries, will be weakened by Brexit.
Farage: What you are saying is complete rubbish. The idea that the EU is good for the economy is absolutely rubbish. The EU is a failing model.
ZEIT ONLINE: Since when have you been convinced of this fallacy?
Farage: Since 1990. Back then, I decided that the whole thing is nonsense. It will never work. It took a while, but now we have left. And we are the first ones. Others will leave as well”.
Farage concluded the interview saying,
“You are away with the fairies. You must be mad. I have never heard anything so immature in all my life. Because of Brexit I will lose my option to travel to Hamburg? You should be on a comedy show, not be a journalist”.
Farage is of course completely correct. The fanatical interviewer who was asking questions with no basis in reality was totally out of line. This is the very reason that politicians like Farage maintain and increase their popularity at a time when the mainstream media who carry water for the elitist establishment continue to falter and fail.
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