In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce a British politician and TV presenter, Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage ). He's best-known for his prominent role in the Brexit campaign, and for his bootlicking of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
1/24
Farage joined the Conservative party at the age of 14. From early on, euroscepticism was at the core of his politics and he voted for the Green Party in 1989 due to their "sensible" policies towards the EU. He left the Conservative party in 1992 in protest to the signing...
2/24
...of the Treaty on European Union, which forms the basis of the EU law. In 1993, Farage was a founding member of the Eurosceptic, right-wing populist UK Independence Party (UKIP). He was elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in 1999, and was re-elected in...
3/24
...2004, 2009, 2014. While in the EP, he exposed various political figures for their shady deals, including Jacques Barrot and the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso. He also attacked Belgian politician Herman Van Rompuy, declaring that...
4/24
...he had the "charisma of a damp rag" and that he looked like "a low grade bank clerk".
In 2009, Farage boasted about using over 2 million £ of taxpayer money in staff, travel, and other expenses. In 2014 he declared 205 603 £ over ten years in gifts.
5/24
A senior member, Kevin Ellul Bonici, of Nigel's parliamentary EU group was known for making trips to the Russian embassy in Belgium and for organizing smear campaigns against Kremlin critics. One former staffer stated that Ellul Bonici returned from each of these...
6/24
...trips with "a bootload of propaganda". Ellul Bonici was also responsible for uploading Farage clips on "many fringe sites".
Since the beginning of his political career, Farage's politics has been all about one thing and one thing only: UK leaving the EU.
7/24
He was one of the main drivers of the Brexit campaign, and was involved in both the Vote Leave and Leave.EU movements. Farage's main financial backer over the years has been businessman Arron Banks.
8/24
When Obama flew to London to "convince" Brits to stay in the EU,Farage called it a "monstrous interference".Ironically,a month later,Farage himself said in an interview with Robert Peston that if"he were an eligible US voter he would vote for Trump in the 2016 presidential..
9/24
... election". Few months later he visited the Republican convention with his aide, George Cotrell, and engaged in discussions with Trump's people. Before they could leave the US, Cotrell was arrested on 21 federal counts, including fraud, money laundering and extortion.
10/24
In Aug 2016, Farage, his funder Arron Banks, and Andy Wigmore met with Trump at a fundraiser in Mississippi. Later they attended Trump's campaign rally, where he asked Farage to give a speech and introduced him as "Mr. Brexit".
11/24
After Trump won the presidency, Farage stated that he "couldn't be happier".
In the same interview he described Obama as a "loathsome individual" and as "that Obama creature".
12/24
Nigel was listed by the FBI as a person of interest in their investigation on the Russian interference in the 2016 US election due to his connections to Trump, WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. One source claimed that "he's right in the middle of these relationships.
13/24
He turns up over and over again. There's a lot of attention being paid to him." Farage had met with Assange and his lawyers, and Assange and his lawyer were even given an opportunity to contribute to the speeches given by the UKIP. In return, UKIP organized people...
14/24
...for a pro-Assange demonstration in London. Documentarian Daniel DiMauro said that Farage had a dinner with Roger Stone and Alex Jones. In Oct 2017, Farage was attending a discussion on LBC radio station where one of the callers suggested that the pro-Israeli lobby in..
15/24
...the US was equally dangerous to the Russian interference in the US politics. Farage called it a "reasonable point", and stated that "there are about 6 million Jewish people living in America, so as a percentage it's quite small, but in terms of influence it's quite big".
16/24
Farage has also appeared alongside conspiracy theorists from LaRouche movement and InfoWars, and shared content from Pizzagate promoter and serial liar Jack Posobiec. He has also described George Soros as "the biggest danger to the entire western world".
17/24
After his Brexit Party didn't gain any seats in the 2019 UK general election, Nigel traveled yet again overseas to work as a warm-up speaker for Trump in his 2020 campaign. In 2021 he did a six-week tour in the US, where he addressed Republican audiences across the country. 18/24
Farage has also suggested that the UK should work more closely with Putin, and that "on this bigger overall battle we need to start recognizing we’re on the same side". If the "same side" he's referring to means that we have to conduct chemical attacks on children and...
19/24
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In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll reintroduce an American political commentator and pro-Kremlin propagandist, Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson). He’s best known for his promotion of crazy conspiracy theories and for his support of authoritarian regimes around the world.
1/24
Tucker’s career spans decades, but he’s also been very active in recent years, so a lot has happened since our previous soup on him, which can be found here:
Once described as “the most powerful conservative in America”, Tucker has now fully transformed into a grifting conspiracy theorist and propagandist willing to work for whoever pays him the most. It’s unclear whether Tucker truly believes his endless conspiracy theories or…
3/24
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll cover the agenda-setting and flood of disinformation that spread on X and other platforms right after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. It’s far from the first or last time a tragedy has been weaponized for political purposes.
1/18
Every major political event, especially those involving violence, attracts massive attention. In the immediate aftermath, reliable information is scarce, making it highly vulnerable to both coordinated and improvised disinformation campaigns.
2/18
As I’ve mentioned in my previous soups and lectures, in disinformation campaigns, being first with a narrative is crucial, as people often remember the first version best — psychology studies show it sets the mental schema, and later updates rarely overwrite it.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce American social media personality David Freeman, AKA Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman). He’s best known for spreading political disinformation on X and shamelessly sucking up to Trump, Putin, and other authoritarian leaders.
1/22
David is a textbook example of someone profiting from MAGA grievance politics. He uses extreme, provocative language to farm engagement on X and never hesitates to flatter anyone who might give him more exposure — or money.
2/22
But David wasn’t always like this. At some point, in his mid-40s, he even tried a real job: he trained to become a cop. He spent three years with the Metro Transit PD, but after that he either got fired or quit, and never looked back.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian-Estonian businessman, Oleg Ossinovski. He is best-known for his deep ties to Russian rail and energy networks, shady cross-border dealings, and for channeling his wealth into Estonian politics.
1/14
Oleg made his fortune via Spacecom Trans & Skinest Rail, both deeply tied to Russia’s rail system. Most of this is through Globaltrans Investments PLC, a Cyprus-based firm with 62% held via Spacecom and tens of millions in yearly profits.
2/14
Ossinovski’s Russian-linked ventures made him Estonia’s richest man in 2014, with an estimated fortune of ~€300M. His business empire stretched across railways, oil via Alexela shares, and Russian bitumen imports from Help-Oil, a supplier to the Defense Ministry.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Swiss/French writer, Alain Bonnet, aka Alain Soral (@officielsoral). He’s best known for his rabid antisemitism and for his pathetic support for all the worst authoritarian regimes from Russia to North Korea.
1/22
Alain’s childhood was problematic, as his father has been characterized as a “narcissistic pervert” who beat his children and did jail time for fraud. Alain himself has said he was “programmed to be a monster.” Born Alain Bonnet, he took the stage name of his sister,…
2/22
… actress Agnès Soral. She wasn’t too happy about this, commenting “How would you like to be called Agnès Hitler?”. Like many grifters, he became a pick-up/seduction artist writer, à la late Gonzalo Lira, writing books and even making a B-movie, “Confessions d’un dragueur”.
3/22