Thread by @PropertySpot

Who is Ted Malloch, and how did he come to be "tipped" as US ambassador to the EU?

Thread (1/x)

In 2016, Malloch published a memoir called "Davos, Aspen, and Yale", a self-aggrandising look at his life story including such dubious claims as being 'knighted' by Queen Elizabeth and called a genius by Margaret Thatcher. (2/x)

Some of the other content of the book is dubious in a different way. Malloch makes a big deal about being a WASP - White Anglo-Saxon Protestant - but not in a "racial supremacy, ethnic gloating" way. (3/x)

To prove it, the first chapter has the very unsubtle pun "The Greatest Race" as the title, and refers to the Henley Regatta as the closest thing to a WASP "ethnic pride day". (4/x)

Malloch likes to tell a little joke about how Englishmen are all WASPs, or were... (5/x)

Malloch's book came to the attention of Steve Bannon, who invited him onto a Breitbart podcast, noting that he writes like a "nationalist populist". (6/x)

Malloch became a contributor for Breitbart. In May 2016, he wrote a piece arguing that Trump's border wall could be a technological solution using drones. (7/x)
breitbart.com/politics/2016/…

By the time of Trump's election, speculation was being whipped up about Nigel Farage becoming the US ambassador to the EU, as Andrew Neil put to him on the night of the election. (8/x)

On November 21st 2016, Brexit Central published an exclusive interview with Malloch by Tim Newark, someone long associated with the Taxpayers Alliance, in which it was claimed Malloch was the "hot favourite to be Donald Trump’s man in London". (9/x)

brexitcentral.com/tim-newark-man…

The very next day, Malloch was on Newsnight, being treated as if he were part of Trump's inner circle. (10/x)

https://twitter.com/PropertySpot/status/1114504092775219206

By early January 2017, the same Tim Newark was tipping Malloch as US ambassador to the EU (11/x)

cityam.com/256320/meet-an…

The Daily Mail reported that Nigel Farage had recommended Malloch for the role, with Malloch saying he wanted the US to be Britain's "rich uncle". (12/x)

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4…

That was enough for the BBC to book him again and again, holding forth with predictions of doom for the EU. (13/x)

https://twitter.com/PropertySpot/status/1114512063907262464

By the time the FT checked out his eyebrow-raising book in February, the damage had already been done. (14/x)
ft.com/content/ce3179…

Malloch, however didn't disappear. In August 2017, he wrote another piece for Breitbart promoting Jacob Rees-Mogg as Prime Minister, and leaked the suggestion that Rees-Mogg was considering a leadership challenge. (15/x)

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politi…

The transatlantic Brexit ecosystem contains some very dubious characters. An essential lesson for the BBC is to check their credentials before giving them a platform next time. (16/16)