An adviser at the U.S. State Department posted photographs from a visit from right-wing U.K. activist Tommy Robinson on Wednesday and outraged many politicians across the pond.
Joe Rittenhouse, a senior adviser at the Consular Affairs bureau of the State Department, posted the images and called Robinson a “free speech warrior.”
‘We need to engage this administration on the difference between that and incitement to violence and racial hatred.’
British politicians immediately lambasted the visit as an affront to U.S-U.K. relations. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has a history of criminal convictions related to his activism against mass immigration and Islam.
“The World and the West is a better place when we fight for freedom of speech and no one has been on the front lines more than Tommy,” Rittenhouse added. “Good to see you my friend!”
Robinson posted a video of himself interviewing Republican Rep. Randy Fine of Florida and made the rounds to speak to many media outlets on the right.
Meanwhile, back in Britain, the politicians fumed.
“Yaxley-Lennon is being touted around Washington as a ‘free speech warrior.’ We need to engage this administration on the difference between that and incitement to violence and racial hatred,” said Labour MP Emily Thornberry, chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee. “There should be no place in any democracy for the latter.”
Labour MP Alex Ballinger said in a statement to Politico he was “disappointed” that the State Department had hosted a “convicted criminal” and “far-right agitator.”
“Having worked alongside U.S. diplomats for many years, I suspect many of them will be embarrassed about it too,” he said.
Labour MP Phil Brickell called the meeting a “complete outrage” and accused Robinson of peddling “racist tropes” in the past.
“The guy holds no elected role,” Brickell added and questioned what basis the U.S. government had to recognize him.
A spokesperson for the State Department told Politico that Robinson visited “in an unofficial capacity on a tour.”
“The government needs to send a clear signal to the U.S. president that this is unacceptable,” said former Foreign Office Minister Catherine West, who went on to call the meeting “incredibly alarming.”
She added, “For the U.K.’s key ally to do so is frankly disgraceful.”
On the other hand, a spokesperson for the U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer downplayed the visit.
The spokesperson said Robinson was “not a representative of the U.K.” and added that the meeting was “a matter for the U.S. administration” and “not for me to speak to.”
RELATED: Tommy Robinson has the last laugh after politically motivated terrorism arrest
Robinson went on to mock the negative coverage of his visit by some in the media.
“I posted a photo at the US State Department earlier, the legacy media have been falling over each other to condemn my visit, devastated that their decades of slandering is now transparent,” he wrote. “Their power is gone.”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Read the full article here
