Nigel Farage made the most awkward speech of his career as Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine

“Vladimir Putin is a nationalist Russian... I always thought we were dealing with someone very logical’

Nigel Farage speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on 25 February 2022 in Orlando, Florida (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Not many people in America know who Nigel Farage is, despite his “American Comeback Tour” (sparsely attended and staged in a number of smallish towns across the US last year) and despite his transatlantic business ventures. Not many everyday Americans can tell you what Brexit is, either, except in broad strokes about immigrants and isolationism. Yet somehow the old guy has pulled himself up by his bootstraps and made a name for himself as “Mr Brexit” among right-wing Americans, taking advantage of the confusion to position himself as a savior of all things white and European and probably Christian. Thus, at CPAC on Friday, he came onstage under the headline “NIGEL FARAGE, MR BREXIT, GB NEWS”.

Farage has that cringey British awkwardness that most people of my heritage share, but he pushes through it. He opened his speech by inviting boos for Justin Trudeau (“I said Justin Trudeau!” when they weren’t loud enough.) There was a sycophantic aside about how Britain owes America “a massive, massive debt” and how “you’re not gonna hear that from a French politician!” Applause came on cue when he talked about “the massive price America paid to get Europe out of its problems”.

But of course, problems were abundant in Europe as he said all of this. While committed Trumpists gathered at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida, tanks were rolling into Ukraine. Farage clearly had realized — unlike many others who spoke on Thursday and Friday — that he should probably make a nod toward this, a globally significant moment. But, like many of his Republican-leaning friends, he also had a history of being publicly sympathetic with Putin. So how was he going to handle this one?

He started with the basics. “Vladimir Putin is a nationalist Russian. He wants to get back — at least I thought he wanted to get back — the Russian-speaking areas [of Ukraine] into his country. Those provinces in Ukraine, well, they are Russian-speaking… I always thought we were dealing with someone very logical, but now I don’t think he is.” Our Nige was performing an ideological tightrope-walk, and the confusion in the crowd was palpable.

Back to safe ground: “I have no doubt that if Donald Trump had still been president, that invasion would not have happened.” Smattered cheers; everyone’s glad we’re on the same page. Then a shout-out for NATO, but a couple breaths later: “We have made mistakes, we have got things wrong, we have not been honest about much of our dealings with Ukraine and Russia. But we are where we are.” He lamented that it might be that “something’s gone wrong with Putin” and “he’s lost all logic and reason”, as if our good friend Vlad might have had a fall and gone all funny rather than sent thousands of armed troops in to invade a neighboring country in violation of international law.

It was clear Farage felt stuck between the bizarre sect of far-right Americans who fetishize Putin as a highly eligible strongman, and the hawkish YOU-ESS-AY types who think Murika should go to war with everyone and show Russia who’s boss. The messaging was mixed, to say the least. Perhaps Nigel was trying to give the impression of nuance. It came across as hedging.

Back to more tried-and-tested territory, Mr Brexit wanted everyone to know it wasn’t OK that “people feel guilty about being white” these days, and that “we’re all supposed to take a knee to an organization called Black Lives Matter” which is, by the way, “openly Marxist”. The boos were loud and enthusiastic. With a slightly manic look in his eyes, he added that “if we’re going to keep our history, our heritage, our culture, if we’re going to defend our civilization then this is the battleground.” I think we all know exactly what that means.

“I’m not allowed to say ‘let’s go Brandon’ because it’s rude,” he added during a spiel about Biden being the worst president in US history, before immediately adding: “So let’s go Brandon!” Ooh, Nigel, you truly are the naughtiest fascist at CPAC.

Lastly, there was another moment that slightly set the audience on edge. Farage was here to tell some home truths to his far-right campaigners, and it wasn’t what they wanted to hear. “Does it make sense,” he asked, “to keep talking about the stolen election?” There was silence; this was their bread and butter he was threatening to take away. He understood that everyone in that room liked to talk about it, he said, because they’re political activists. But perhaps they should “remember that most Americans are busy with their lives, busy with their mortgages, busy with their kids.” Here, a besuited Brit was telling seasoned campaigners who have lived their whole lives in the US that they were out-of-touch with everyday Americans. Of all the tightropes he’d walked during his speech, this was the highest.

And yet he soldiered on: “This message of a stolen election, if you think about it, is a negative, backward-looking message.” Was Nigel Farage…making sense? No, wait — the “positive message” to replace it with was talking about how Republicans are going to deliver “the cleanest elections” in the world. So, he was splitting hairs again. Anyway.

“Are you ready to win big in the midterms?!” Ah, yes. Back on track. And then he was gone, leaving a somewhat muted crowd in his wake. And the tanks continued to roll on toward Kyiv.