Elon Musk addressed far-right crowds in London over the weekend, calling for the “dissolution of the UK parliament” and a “change of government”.
Dialled in via a video link, Musk spoke of the “rapidly increasing erosion of Britain” to the ‘unite the kingdom’ rally, organised by far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson.
“I really think that there’s got to be a change of government in Britain. You can’t – we don’t have another four years, or whenever the next election is, it’s too long,” said Musk.
Born in South Africa, Musk also holds US and Canadian citizenship. This is not the first time he’s waded into political controversy, having been an ally of US president Trump and critical of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer since the start of his term.
“Whether you choose violence or not, that violence is going to come to you, you will have no choice. You’re in a fundamental situation here,” Musk told the crowd, noting he was appealing to “the people who ordinarily wouldn’t get involved in politics”.
The rally was dubbed a “festival of free speech”, but marchers were reported to have amplified racist conspiracy theories and anti-Muslim hate speech, with police saying officers “faced unacceptable violence” from the rally attendees.
Musk also referenced the recent death of far-right US commentator Charlie Kirk, telling the crowds that “the left are the party of murder”. US officials identified the suspect of Kirk’s shooting as a 22-year-old white male, whose parents are registered Republicans and whose own political ideologies are still unclear.
Organiser of the far-right rally, Tommy Robinson used Kirk’s memory in an attempt to promote turnout for the event, posting a video to social media, saying: “March for freedom, march for your children, and march for Charlie Kirk.”
Robinson is widely known for his anti-immigrant and anti-Islam views, billing the march as a demonstration for free speech, British heritage and culture.
More than 110,000 people were estimated to have taken part in what is being considered the largest nationalist event in decades. It featured far-right figures from across Europe and North America, and at least 25 people were arrested for violence at the event.
Countering the far-right rally’s racist rhetoric, about 5,000 protesters from trade unions and anti-fascist groups marched in a separate route in central London on the same day.
One group called ‘Stand up to Racism’, gathered 20,000 people to march in protest of the far-right’s demonstration, saying “the anti-racist majority” in Britain needs an urgent response.
Protesters also stood up to call out the far-right’s narrative that their racist rhetoric is about protecting women and girls, with marchers chanting: “Women’s rights. Migrants rights. One struggle. One fight.”