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Raheem Kassam

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Kassam at the 2018 CPAC in Maryland.

Raheem Kassam (born 1 August 1986 in Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom) is a British activist, author, and former editor-in-chief of Breitbart News London. Kassam was a candidate in the November 2016 UKIP leadership election, but dropped out of the race in October 2016.[1]

Biography

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Raheem Kassam was born on 1 August 1986 in Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom. His parents were from Tanzania. They were of Gujarati origin. He was raised a Ismaili Muslim, but stopped believing in the faith many years ago.[2] He is now an atheist, and was influenced by Christopher Hitchens.[3]

He studied politics at the University of Westminster in London.[4]

He was a national board member of the Conservative Future youth-movement. He was director of a campus anti-extremism group called Student Rights. He was against the London School of Economics accepting money from Gaddafi's Libya.[4] His idols are Michael Gove, Margaret Thatcher, and Barry Goldwater.[4]

He worked at a Lehman Brothers call center,[5] and later managed electoral campaigns in the UK and United States. He and others tried to create a British-version of the Tea Party movement.[6] He and James Delingpole created Breitbart News London.[7] Kassam left Breitbart in May 2018.[8]

In 2016, he said that Donald Trump would be a better president than Hillary Clinton.[9] Kassam joined Nigel Farage in meeting Trump after the presidential election.[10]

In 2018, he claimed that London had become "a shithole" since the election of Sadiq Khan.[11]

UKIP leadership election

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Kassam's campaign slogan was "Make UKIP Great Again."[12] His activity online gave him negative attention. He viciously insulted multiple politicians, including First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon,[13] UKIP leadership candidate Suzanne Evans,[14] and Labour MP Angela Eagle.[7] He called the Scottish National Party a "National Socialist party."[15] He later apologised.[16] He called for a referendum on the right of women in the UK to wear the niqāb, claimed that US presidential candidate Donald Trump does not hold anti-Muslim views, and questioned the claims of sexual assault made against Trump.[17]

References

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  1. ↑ Stone, Jon (31 October 2016). "Raheem Kassam pulls out of Ukip leadership race". The Independent. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  2. ↑ Kenber, Billy; Fisher, Lucy (29 October 2016). "Ukip contender is quick to show his bitter credentials". The Times. Retrieved 31 October 2016. (subscription required)
  3. ↑ "Thank you, Mr. Hitchens - The Commentator". www.thecommentator.com. Archived from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Rainbow Tories: The geek, the fundraiser and the Tanzanian immigrant's son". The Evening Standard. 6 October 2011.
  5. ↑ "Raheem Kassam: Steve Bannon Is 'the Man Who Flew to London to Hire This Brown Guy from a Muslim Family'". Breitbart News.
  6. ↑ "Raheem Kassam". BBC Three. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Bush, Stephen (25 October 2016). "The rise of Raheem Kassam, Nigel Farage's back-room boy". New Statesman. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  8. ↑ Gray, Rosie (May 23, 2018). "Breitbart's Raheem Kassam Is Out". Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Raheem Kassam: UKIP is in an 'existential crisis'". BBC News. 18 October 2016.
  10. ↑ "Nigel Farage becomes first UK politician to meet Donald Trump". Sky News. 13 November 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  11. ↑ Jacobs, Ben (January 13, 2018). "After Bannon: the new faces of the hard right". The Guardian. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  12. ↑ Mason, Rowena (5 October 2016). "Ukip leadership contest: five likely contenders to succeed Diane James". The Guardian.
  13. ↑ Merrick, Rob (24 October 2016). "Ukip at war again as two more leadership candidates put themselves forward". The Independent. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  14. ↑ Bennett, Asa (24 October 2016). "Nigel Farage is Ukip's Tony Blair. After historic success, it is tearing itself apart over his legacy". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  15. ↑ Allegretti, Aubrey (23 October 2016). "Ukip Leadership Contender Raheem Kassam Sparks Outrage For History Of Controversial Twitter Posts". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  16. ↑ McGrath, Hannah; Fisher, Lucy (25 October 2016). "Abusive tweets were a silly joke, says Ukip contender". The Times. Retrieved 28 October 2016. (subscription required)
  17. ↑ Walker, Peter (28 October 2016). "Ukip leadership candidate defends Trump and calls for niqab referendum". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
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