A far-right agitator with a lengthy criminal record has been welcomed inside the U.S. State Department, with one Trump stooge saying he is “honored” to welcome the thug.
Tommy Robinson—whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon—said he was in America “making alliances and friendships” after meeting officials in Washington, D.C. Posting on X, he added that he had “had the privilege of an invite to the @StateDept.”
Robinson was pictured with Joe Rittenhouse, a senior adviser at the State Department. Rittenhouse wrote on X: “Honored to have free speech warrior @TRobinsonNewEra at Department of State today. 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. Good to see you my friend!”
Islamophobic Trump whisperer Laura Loomer called him a “hero,” writing: “He should be granted asylum in the US. He is a true political refugee, jailed for speaking truth about Islam in the UK.”
Robinson responded to critics online. After one person wrote, “this is not normal,” he replied: “It’s the new normal when America has an administration that believes in free speech, doesn’t mean they agree with everything I’ve ever said, they believe in my right to say it.”
The visit marks a turnaround from six years ago, when Robinson failed in an attempt to travel to Washington to speak on Capitol Hill after his visa was not granted in time.
Last Thursday, however, he posted a video of himself in the United States, saying: “I’m in the United States of America, you see how happy I am? It’s been a long time coming, I’ve dreamed about this moment for so long.”
“tough s--t,” he told critics.
After his tour of the Harry S. Truman Building, he posted on X saying that the media had reacted fervently to his visit. “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 said.
“‘Far right’ has lost all meaning. Their power is gone. Listen to me expose them,” he added, attaching a video of him speaking to a journalist from British publication The Telegraph.
In the video, he said he did not intend to travel to Miami to meet President Donald Trump. It is also unclear how he “exposed” the journalist and the “mainstream media.”
A State Department spokesperson justified the visit by basically saying that Robinson was a tourist. “Tommy Robinson visited the State Department in an unofficial capacity on a tour yesterday,” they told the Daily Beast.
The welcome comes despite Robinson’s criminal history in both the United Kingdom and the United States. He has convictions for using a fake passport, stalking, and contempt of court.
In 2012, he served time for entering the U.S. with a false passport. Then the leader of the now-defunct English Defence League, Robinson pleaded guilty to possession of a false identity document with improper intention and was jailed for 10 months.
Then 30, he used a passport in the name of Andrew McMaster to board a Virgin Atlantic flight from London Heathrow to New York. He was caught after customs officials took his fingerprints.
Robinson’s legal troubles date back more than two decades. In 2005, he was sentenced to 12 months in prison after assaulting a police officer who intervened in an argument between him and his then partner. Since then, he has committed a litany of crimes, including assault, contempt of court, and mortgage fraud.
The State Department was contacted for comment.
