Newly released files show convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and US President Donald Trump’s former strategist Steve Bannon discussing British far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
On July 3, 2019, Mr. Epstein shared an article with Mr. Bannon, a known ally of Mr. Robinson, reporting that the activist had been found in contempt of court for livestreaming a defendant accused of sexually abusing a young girl during a 2018 trial.
Mr Bannon responded by calling Mr Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) “the backbone of England”.
Mr Epstein replied: “That’s why the pound is so cheap.”
“Any price is cheap,” Bannon said.
New MEE Newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up for the latest insights and analysis
Alongside Israel-Palestine, Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
It is unclear from the messages whether they were praising Robinson and criticizing Britain, or mocking far-right activists.
Bannon has previously reportedly described Robinson as the country’s “backbone.”
Theo Asherwood, LBC Radio’s political editor, claimed that on July 15, 2018, the previous year, after a fiery interview, Mr Bannon said off-air: “You damn liberal elite. Tommy Robinson is the backbone of this country.”
In August 2018, when Robinson was released after being held for contempt, Epstein texted Bannon: “Tommy Robinson!! Well done!”
Mr. Bannon responded, “Thank you.”
Mr. Bannon publicly defended Mr. Robinson when he was arrested, saying, “He should be released.”
Robinson, a former tanning salon owner, has spent the past two decades running a violent street campaign focused on intimidating the British Muslim community and stoking fears of an Islamic takeover of Britain.
He has been serving prison sentences and community orders since 2003 for offenses including brawling at a football game, traveling to the US on someone else’s passport, mortgage fraud, drug possession, threatening behavior and breaching a court order.
In 2021, he lost a defamation lawsuit over the defamation of a Syrian schoolboy who was filmed being attacked at his school. Robinson was sued over comments he made in a video he posted on Facebook in which he claimed the boy was “violently attacking a young British female student at school”.
