Former UKIP Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage might have thought it a good idea to let mainland European media have the benefit of his questionable wisdom, if only so he could lord it over all those ghastly people who don’t speak English properly. But when he allowed German newspaper Die Zeit to quiz him, it turned out to be a campaign that progressed not necessarily to his advantage.
Squeaky hard questions finger up the bum time
We already got an inkling that all did not go as Mr Thirsty might have hoped, with Laura Schneider Tweeting “Nigel Farage walks off interview with German @DIEZEIT after questions about his ties to Russia & Brexit consequences”, and the Independent telling “Nigel Farage dodges question on why he met Julian Assange before abruptly ending interview”, but the full account of the meltdown is infinitely more satisfying.
“Nigel Farage sits on a black leather chair at his office in the European Parliament in Brussels” begins the Die Zeit article, showing us that Mr Thirsty might hate the EU, but has no problem enjoying the benefits of being an MEP. He was not comfy for long.
ZEIT ONLINE: Who financed your leave campaign?
Farage: Who financed the whole Remain campaign for more than 50 years? The government!
ZEIT ONLINE: You have not answered the question.
Farage: individuals, individual citizens from the United Kingdom.
ZEIT ONLINE: Also with money from Russia?
Farage: There was no Russian money, it's ridiculous. That’s just a conspiracy theory. I would not have accepted a penny from Russia, even if it had been offered to me. This campaign was not about money. It was about messages - good, clear messages.
By now, Farage might have figured out that this would not be the same as the softball of adoration that so much of the rabidly Europhobic press in Britain might offer him. He was right to make that deduction - because things became yet more uncomfortable.
ZEIT ONLINE: Why did you visit Julian Assange in the Ecuadorian Embassy?
Farage: Oh. Only for journalistic reasons.
ZEIT ONLINE: What? Because you wanted to write an article about the wanted WikiLeaks activist?
Farage: For journalistic reasons. I will not say anything else. But I did not do it for political, but for journalistic reasons.
In case anyone missed that - Farage admitted his visit was to see Assange.
ZEIT ONLINE: What journalistic reasons are they supposed to be?
Farage: I do not want to say anything more. Look: I used to do politics 100 hours a week. Now I am only doing it for 40 hours a week, so I have a lot of time to do a lot of other things. I work for Fox News and LBC, and I write.
By this time, Nige’s press aide was interrupting the interview to suggest the conversation should be about trade. Farage would like to talk about trade. But Die Zeit did not.
ZEIT ONLINE: You surely went see Julian Assange on behalf of someone. What was the subject of your visit?
Farage: That has nothing to do with you. It was a private meeting.
ZEIT ONLINE: Just now you said it was a journalistic meeting, so for the public?
Farage: Of course.
ZEIT ONLINE: So will you soon publish an article about your links to WikiLeaks and the meeting with Assange?
Farage: Wait. I meet a lot of people all over the world. I always like to help.
The interview moved on to Russia. Farage may have thought he was now out of the woods. He was not.
Farage: We have no connections with Russia.
ZEIT ONLINE: So you never met the Deputy Russian Ambassador in London?
Farage: No.
ZEIT ONLINE: Not in 2013, before the Brexit campaign was designed ?
Farage: Ah, wait a minute. He came to my office in the European Parliament. Maybe I met him in London. So what?
ZEIT ONLINE: Why did you meet with him?
This wasn’t going at all well. Farage’s press aide jumped in again. When would the interview talk about trade between Germany and Britain?
Farage: We British are the first, but other countries will also leave the EU.
ZEIT ONLINE: Who?
Farage: We'll see: Greece. Maybe Denmark or Sweden. We will see.
ZEIT ONLINE: Greece had the option in the financial crisis and decided against it. Are you actually a journalist or politician after Brexit?
Farage: I change public opinion. That's what I've been doing for 20 years. For this I use television, the media. To influence the public, which I do rather well.
ZEIT ONLINE: So you had to meet Julian Assange?
Farage: That, that is another point in the whole thing.
ZEIT ONLINE: How can you understand this point?
Farage: Well, you will not understand. I met him very briefly and we discussed a lot.
ZEIT ONLINE: You did not want to be discovered? it’s only because someone took a picture of you, otherwise your visit would not be known at all.
Farage’s press aide interrupted again. Would the interviewer care to ask him about the UK economy? He’d like to talk about that. By now it was getting heated.
ZEIT ONLINE: The fundamental freedoms of the EU include the free movement of goods, services, capital and persons. Those who leave the EU risk losing the freedom.
Farage: When I was elected to the European Parliament in 1999, no one argued about borders or refugee immigration. Why? Because it was not relevant.
ZEIT ONLINE: Brexit could create a new frontier in Europe.
Farage: You live in a fairytale world. You must be crazy. I've never heard anything so stupid. Because of Brexit I should not be able to travel to Hamburg? You should appear in a comedy show.
At which point The Great Man and his press aide decided that was enough. But it was more than enough to show how easily Farage can be discomfited by someone willing to do more than play softball with him.
Nigel Farage lied about meeting the Russians. His claims of further departures from the EU were easily debunked. And he admitted his visit to the Ecuadorian embassy was to visit Julian Assange, with whom he “discussed a lot”.
Although the Die Zeit interview is excellent entertainment, the lesson for our free and fearless press is clear: stop toadying to this spiv and give him the kind of grilling he deserves. After all, there’s nothing like the aroma of grilled Kippers.
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