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Ex-Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage says Clare O’Neil’s tweets criticising Trumps were ‘utterly stupid’

GB News television host Nigel Farage has condemned Australia’s cancel culture and questioned the calibre of parliamentary ministers following social media posts by Minister Clare O’Neil.

'Trump-like': Sharri Markson slams deleted tweet of Home Affairs Minister

Former Brexit Party leader and British broadcaster Nigel Farage has questioned the calibre of cabinet ministers in Australia following the social media furore that erupted after Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil posted multiple tweets attacking Donald Trump and his son.

Mr Farage said the minister’s comments on social media were “utterly stupid” and it “looked comical, it’s so bad it’s funny”.

“Senior people very rarely delete tweets, I think I might have deleted one or two in 10 years … you should just never put yourself in that position, it was a pretty crass statement,” he told The Australian.

Ms O’Neil said in multiple social media posts that have since been deleted, that Mr Trump Jr was a “sore loser” and was “just a big baby” after his upcoming Australian tour was cancelled and she also said he had experienced “poor ticket sales”.

Despite this the organisers of Mr Trump Jr’s tour, Turning Point, said more than 8000 tickets were sold to his shows across the country including in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Mr Farage was due to join Mr Trump Jr in a speaking tour in Australia this week but the trip was cancelled after the American businessman was unable to get a visa until just 24 hours before he was due to leave the US.

A spokesman for Ms O’Neil was contacted for comment but did not respond.

Mr Farage, a presenter at conservative British news channel GB News, also criticised Australia’s cancel culture after a change.org petition drew more than 22,000 signatures calling for Mr Trump Jr to be stopped from getting an Australian visa.

“That’s the embodiment of cancel culture, it’s not only disagreeing with what you have to say or what I think you are going to say, it’s saying I don’t think you’ve got the right to say it,” Mr Farage said. “It really worries me that we have young activist students who don’t seem to be taught in the western world anymore what critical thinking is.”

Mr Farage recently made headlines after winning a British media award, the TRIC award, for best news presenter. Shortly after, organisers sent out a congratulatory tweet but in an unusual move later deleted it.

“I complained bitterly and the tweet was then put back up, but it was almost as if the industry didn’t acknowledge what their own viewers had done (voted for me),” he said. “Media (is) at its very worst, arrogant, out of touch, stuck in capital cities and with a relationship with many of their viewers and listeners that is breaking down.”

Read related topics:BrexitDonald Trump
Sophie Elsworth
Sophie ElsworthEurope Correspondent

Sophie is Europe correspondent for News Corporation Australia and began reporting from Europe in November 2024. Her role includes covering all the big issues in Europe reporting for titles including The Daily and Sunday Telegraphs, daily and Sunday Herald Sun, The Courier-Mail and Brisbane's Sunday Mail and Adelaide's The Advertiser and Sunday Mail as well as regional and community brands. She has worked at numerous News Corp publications throughout her career and was media writer at The Australian, based in Melbourne, for four years before moving to the UK. She has also worked as a reporter at the Herald Sun in Melbourne, The Advertiser in Adelaide and The Courier-Mail in Brisbane and on the Sunshine Coast. Sophie regularly appears on TV and is a Sky News Australia contributor appearing on primetime programs including Credlin and The Kenny Report, a role she continues while in Europe. She graduated from university with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees and grew up on a sheep farm in central Victoria.

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/exbrexit-party-leader-nigel-farage-says-clare-oneils-tweets-criticising-trumps-were-utterly-stupid/news-story/3994bf5576c0f80d71d6e03b76be78e6