Reform MP Danny Kruger has refused to condemn a prominent party supporter who described Kemi Badenoch as a “Nigerian scammer.”
This week, political activist and former UKIP adviser Raheem Kassam was slammed for comments he made about Tory leader Badenoch.
In posts on X, Kassam said Badenoch is a “Nigerian scammer,” adding: “Don’t give her your credit card number and bank account details.”
Kassam also said: “So Kemi, tell us the truth. Are you a walking gaffe or an illegal immigrant?”
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On the Telegraph’s Daily T podcast, the comments were put to Reform MP Danny Kruger, who was asked what he made of the comments and why his party ‘won’t distance itself’ from the likes of Kassam.
But Kruger, who counted Badenoch as his party leader last year before defecting to Reform, refused to condemn the posts.
He told the Telegraph’s Tim Stanley: “Raheem Kassam is not a party spokesman. He’s free to say what he likes.
“A bit of rumbustious debate online is part of our politics. So I’ve got nothing to say to that.”
Kruger’s response baffled Stanley, who could scarcely believe that the East Wiltshire MP was unwilling to outright condemn the comments.
“The fact you won’t just instinctively say, ‘yeah that’s disgusting, I don’t like that’ … that raises questions, I’m uncomfortable with that,” Stanley said.
“Why not just call it out, call it for what it is, which is a disgusting and unnecessary slur,” he asked Kruger.
Again, Kruger refused to condemn the comments, instead accusing Stanley of trying to get him involved in “fratricidal conflict within the Reform family.”
“I think what we want to do is focus on the real challenges our country faces,” he added.
Reacting to the exchange, Labour MP Adam Jogee said Kruger “should be ashamed of himself.”
Meanwhile, James Cleverly said his former colleague was “choosing to sacrifice” his reputation “on the altar of Reform blind loyalty.”
Last week, an undercover investigation from ITV News uncovered a number of incidents of racism and sexism from Reform UK members.
This included one activist saying asylum seekers should be put in “concentration camps,” a Reform deputy mayor describing Asian people as “absolute parasites” and a councillor making sexually aggressive comments about a female Reform member.