Kassam managed electoral campaigns in the UK and US, and was Executive Editor of The Commentator blogging platform, but left the organisation after falling out with the founding editor, Robin Shepherd, who described Kassam as "a danger to British democracy, and the rule of law".[16][1] He has been a member of conservative
think tanks such as the
Bow Group, the
neoconservativeHenry Jackson Society, the
Gatestone Institute and the
Middle East Forum, and was involved in an attempted foundation of the UK version of the
Tea Party movement.[17] Kassam was a supporter of the controversial
Young Britons' Foundation, described by its founder as a "conservative
madrasa" which later shut down due to allegations of misconduct against director
Mark Clarke.[18][19][20] He and
James Delingpole set up the London edition of the American far-right news outlet Breitbart News.[1] Kassam left Breitbart in May 2018.[21]
In June 2018, Kassam helped organise[22] and held a speech at a 10,000-people strong "Free Tommy" demonstration in London in support of
counter-jihad activist
Tommy Robinson.[23]
In March 2019, Kassam and lawyer Will Chamberlain purchased Human Events, a conservative American digital-only publication, from
Salem Media Group for $300,000.[26][27] Kassam became Global editor-in-chief of Human Events when it was re-launched on 1 May.[28]Human Events announced that Kassam would be leaving the outlet on 8 August.[29]
In July 2019, the
Australian Labor Party called for Kassam to be banned from entering the country. Shadow Home Affairs Minister Senator
Kristina Keneally said "We should not allow career bigots — a person who spreads hate speech about Muslims, about women, about gay and lesbian people — to enter our country with the express intent of undermining equity and equality."[30]
In October 2019, Kassam began co-hosting War Room: Impeachment, a daily radio show and podcast with
Steve Bannon, to nudge the White House and its allies into taking a more focused and aggressive posture to counteract the
impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump.[31]
While ballots were being counted in the 2020 election, Kassam promoted
claims by Donald Trump intended to
cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election.[32]
Political views
Kassam has described himself as a nationalist.[33] Kassam's politics have frequently been described as
far-right by mainstream commentators and sources.[34][35][36] He has also been described by media and academic sources as a figure in the
alt-right.[23][37][38] When running for leader in 2016, Kassam supported the repeal of a ban on former members of the
National Front and
British National Partywhite nationalist parties from joining
UKIP.[39]
Kassam has described Islam as a "fascistic and totalitarian ideology",[40] described the
Quran as "fundamentally evil",[41] stated that "we are at war with
Shari'a"[42] and has supported curbing Muslim immigration to the United Kingdom.[43] He has been described as a part of the
counter-jihad movement.[22]
Kassam's political and media strategies have been described as "shock and awful" tactics.[44][45] Kassam has been a persistent critic of Labour Party
Mayor of LondonSadiq Khan, accusing him of turning the city into a "shithole"[46] and having links to terrorism and extremism.[47]
After the resignation of
Diane James as UKIP leader in October 2016, Kassam launched a campaign to become
the new leader. On announcing his bid, he stated that he wanted to "stop infighting within UKIP", "address the deep cultural and social divides in this country", and "to become the real opposition and put this feckless
Labour Party to bed."[48][49] His campaign slogan was "Make UKIP great again".[50][51] In an interview with
Evan Davis on the
BBC's Newsnight, Kassam announced his intentions to resolve UKIP's "existential crisis" and pledged to increase UKIP's membership to 100,000.[52]
Kassam's activity on social media has attracted negative attention. In June 2016 he posted a tweet (later deleted) suggesting
First Minister of ScotlandNicola Sturgeon should have her "mouth taped shut. And her legs, so she can't reproduce".[53] After being criticised by the
Scottish National Party MP
Stewart McDonald on Twitter, Kassam replied that he would not be lectured to by a "
National Socialist party".[54] He later apologised.[55][56] He has tweeted in the past that
Suzanne Evans, a candidate in the second 2016 UKIP leadership election, should "fuck off for good",[57] and questioned whether Labour MP
Angela Eagle attended a "special needs class".[1][54][55]
After Evans said on The Andrew Marr Show that her "far right" and "toxic" rival would take the party away from the interests of ordinary people, Kassam questioned Evans' leadership capabilities and asserted that she had made "smears" against him.[53][57] Farage repudiated Evans' comments about Kassam shortly afterwards.[58][59]
At the launch of his leadership campaign, Kassam called for a national referendum on the right of women in the UK to wear the
niqāb, claimed then-U.S. presidential candidate
Donald Trump does not hold anti-Muslim opinions, and cast doubt on the multiple
claims of sexual assault made against Trump.[56] He also labelled his movement as
Faragist and quipped that he was the "Faragest of the Faragists".[60][61] Kassam gained the personal support of
Arron Banks, the principal funder of UKIP.[62]
Kassam "suspended", or withdrew, from the leadership contest on 31 October 2016, a few hours before nominations closed.[7][63] Having concluded that he had only a slight chance of winning, citing insufficient funds, he criticised the media attention he received and was critical of what he claimed was media intimidation of his parents.[64] He also questioned the fairness of a UKIP ballot.[65] "When Times journalists show up at my elderly parents' house, intimidating them, I draw the line," he said.[66]
Later developments
In his October 2016 Newsnight interview, Kassam suggested that Donald Trump would be a better President of the United States than
Hillary Clinton.[52] A few days after the result of the
American presidential election was announced, Kassam accompanied Farage when the former UKIP-leader was the first British politician to meet President-elect Trump, at
Trump Tower.[67]
In January 2018, Kassam received media coverage for stating during a
Sky News interview that London had become "a shithole" under Mayor
Sadiq Khan, intentionally mirroring similar alleged comments U.S. President Trump made on immigration shortly before.[68][69][70]
In December 2019, Kassam became editor-in-chief of The National Pulse, an American news website on the political right.[8]
Publications
On 14 August 2017, Kassam published his book No Go Zones: How Sharia Law Is Coming to a Neighborhood Near You with
Nigel Farage writing the foreword to the book.[71] Kassam and the idea of dangerous "
no-go areas" for non-Muslims in European cities has been linked to the concept of "
Eurabia".[23][72] On 19 April 2018, Kassam self-published Enoch Was Right: 'Rivers of Blood' 50 Years On, in which he argues that the vision of politician
Enoch Powell's anti-immigration
Rivers of Blood speech has been realised.[73]
^Kassam, Raheem (16 December 2011).
"Thank you, Mr. Hitchens". The Commentator.
Archived from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.