Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage testifies before the House Judiciary Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on September 3, 2025Nigel Farage has been branded a “Putin-loving Trump wannabe” by an American politician as he compared the UK to North Korea while giving evidence to the US Congress.
Despite parliament returning this week, the Reform UK leader flew to Washington to accuse the government of clamping down on free speech in Britain.
Farage highlighted the case of Lucy Connolly, the Tory councillor’s jailed for a tweet calling for asylum hotels to be set on fire.
He also pointed to the arrest of Father Ted creator Graham Linehan over anti-trans posts on X.
“He put out some tweets months ago when he was in Arizona, and months later he arrives at Heathrow Airport to be met by five armed police,” Farage told the House judiciary committee.
“This could happen to any American man or woman that goes to Heathrow that has said things online that the British government and British police don’t like.
“It is a potentially big threat to tech bosses, to many, many others.”
He added: “At what point did we become North Korea?”
Representative Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the committee, had earlier described Farage as a “far right pro-Putin politician” as he attacked the Republicans for setting up the inquiry into “Europe’s threat to American speech and innovation”.
Raskin said: “He calls England an authoritarian regime, while saying Vladimir Putin is the world leader he admires the most.
“This hearing is just a drive-by hit against a strong democratic ally to benefit a Donald Trump sycophant and wannabe.”
He added: “For a man who fancies himself to some kind of a free speech martyr, Mr Farage seems most at home with the autocrats and dictators of the world who are crushing freedom on earth.”
The politician went on: “To the people of the UK who think this Putin-loving, free speech impostor and Trump sycophant will protect freedom in your country, come over to America and see what Trump and MAGA are doing to destroy our freedom, kidnap college students off the street, ban books from our libraries, militarise our police and unleash them against our communities, take over our universities.
“You might think twice before you let Mr Farage ‘make Britain great again’.”
Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin tears into Nigel Farage as a "far-right pro-Putin politician" and a "Donald Trump sycophant and wannabe." pic.twitter.com/RuJ9S2Cnc3
— Adam Schwarz (@AdamJSchwarz) September 3, 2025
Bengali (Bangladesh) · 
English (United States) ·