Raheem Kassam: Biography of Right-Wing Political Activist
Who is Raheem Kassam?
Raheem Kassam is a renowned British political activist. The former editor-in-chief of Breitbart News London, Raheem Kassam, also previously served as the chief adviser to former UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage.
Often described as far-right and right-wing by the news media, Raheem Kassam ran for the UKIP’s November 2016 leadership election but dropped out of the race on October 31, 2016.
Quick Facts
| Full Name | Raheem J. Kassam |
| Most Popularly Known As | Raheem Kassam |
| Birthday | August 1, 1986 |
| Age | 36 years old |
| Sun sign | Leo |
| Traits | Positive- Generous, optimistic, and jovial Negative- Stubborn, inflexible, and impulsive |
| Birthplace | White City, West London, UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Religion | Atheist |
| Ethnicity | Indian and Tanzanian |
| Gender | Male |
| Sexual Orientation | Straight |
| Height | 5 feet 7 inches |
| Eyes | Brown |
| Hair | Black |
| University | University of Westminster |
| Parents | N/A |
| Marital status | Engaged |
| Partner’s Name | Noelle Garnier |
| Children | None |
| Profession | Political activist, commentator, podcast host, and author |
| Net Worth | USD 1 million |
| Social media | Instagram |
Raheem Kassam Birthday
Raheem Kassam was born on August 1, 1986. He was born in the Hammersmith Hospital located in White City, West London. Raheem J. Kassam is now 36 years old.
Early Life and Childhood
Born to Tanzanian Muslim immigrants of Indian origin, Raheem J. Kassam has raised as an Ismaili Shia Muslim. Raheem later revealed that he had not been a practicing Muslim for over a decade and that he was an atheist despite being raised in the Muslim faith.
Kassam studied at Bishopshalt School. He later joined St Helen’s College, Hillingdon. Raheem graduated with a degree in Politics from the University of Westminster.
Career
His initial days
Raheem Kassam worked for the American financial services firm Lehman Brothers in his early career. Lehman Brothers went bankrupt in 2008.
He also served as a national executive board member of the youth movement Conservative Future. Likewise, he was the director of Student Rights, a campus anti-extremism group.
As the director of the group, Raheem had campaigned against the London School of Economics on accounts of accepting money from Gaddafi’s Libya. Following the protests, Howard Davies, the university’s director, resigned.
In 2011, Kassam started working as a campaigns director at the Henry Jackson Society, a neoconservative foreign policy think-tank. His duties included managing electoral campaigns in the UK and USA.
Moreover, he also served as the Executive Editor of The Commentator blogging platform. Unfortunately, he resigned from his position due to disagreements with the founding editor, Robin Shepherd.
Later, Shepherd described Raheem as “a danger to British democracy and the rule of law.” He is well-known for his involvement with several conservative think tanks, including the Bow Group, the neoconservative Henry Jackson Society, the Gatestone Institute, and the Middle East Forum.
In addition, he also attempted to create the foundation of the UK version of the Tea Party movement. Raheem Kassam, a supporter of the Young Britons’ Foundation, has been described by the founder of the controversial think tank as a “conservative madrasa.” The Young Britons’ Foundation was later shut down after misconduct accusations were made against director Mark Clarke.
Raheem Kassam and James Delingpole joined forces to start the London edition of the American far-right news outlet Breitbart News. In May 2018, Kassam left Breitbart.
The same year, he joined the Institut des sciences Sociales, économiques et politiques (Institute of Social, Economic and Political Sciences). The society was founded by far-right National Front politicians Marion Maréchal-Le Pen and Thibaut Monnier in Lyon, France.
In March 2019, Kassam and lawyer Will Chamberlain bought the conservative American digital-only publication called Human Events from Salem Media Group. They paid $300,000 for the purchase.
After relaunching Human Events on May 1, Kassam was appointed the Global editor-in-chief of Human Events. On August 8, Human Events announced that Kassam had severed ties with the organization and that Kassam would no longer work as its Global editor-in-chief.
The Australian Labor Party requested that Kassam be banned from entering the country in July 2019. Discussing this, Shadow Home Affairs Minister Senator Kristina Keneally gave a statement saying,
“We should not allow career bigots — a person who spreads hate speech about Muslims, about women, about gay and lesbian people — to enter our country with the express intent of undermining equity and equality.”
In October 2019, Kassam began his stint as the War Room: Impeachment co-host with Steve Bannon. The daily radio show and podcast focused on convincing the White House and its allies to take a more focused and aggressive approach to fight against the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump.
While ballots were in the process of being counted in the 2020 US election, Kassam engaged in the promotion of claims by Donald Trump. He was criticized for his intention to cast doubt on the election’s legitimacy.
Raheem Kassam UK Independence Party
In 2013, Raheem Kassam was appointed as a UK Independence Party vote. The following year, he joined the party and became Nigel Farage’s senior adviser.
After Diane James resigned as UKIP leader in October 2016, Kassam started campaigning to become the new leader. In his bid announcement, Kassam stated that he intended to “stop infighting within UKIP,” “address the deep cultural and social divides in this country,” and “become the real opposition and put this feckless Labor Party to bed.”
Using the campaign slogan “Make UKIP great again,” Kassam gave an interview with Evan Davis on the BBC’s Newsnight and talked about his intent to resolve UKIP’s “existential crisis.” He also promised to increase UKIP’s membership to 100,000.
After Suzanne Evans, a candidate in the second 2016 UKIP leadership election, said on The Andrew Marr Show that her “far right” and “toxic” rival would take the party away from the interests of ordinary people, Kassam took offense. He questioned Evans’ leadership skills and claimed that she had made “smears” against him.
Kassam took a controversial stance at the launch of his leadership campaign after he called for a national referendum on the right of women in the UK to wear the niqāb. Claiming that the then-U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump does not hold anti-Muslim opinions, Kassam attempted to cast doubts on the sexual misconduct claims made against Trump.
Moreover, he also described his movement as Faragist and stated that he was the “Faragest of the Faragists.” On October 31, 2016, Raheem Kassam withdrew from the leadership contest. His withdrawal came just a few hours before nominations closed.
Citing insufficient funds for his campaign, Kassam stated that he only had a slight chance of winning. In addition, he also criticized the negative media attention he received and claimed that the media intimidated his parents. Kassam said, questioning the fairness of a UKIP ballot,
“When Times journalists show up at my elderly parent’s house, intimidating them, I draw the line.”
In December 2019, Kassam was appointed the editor-in-chief of The National Pulse, a far-right American news website. Raheem Kassam published his book No Go Zones: How Sharia Law Is Coming to a Neighborhood Near You on August 14, 2017.
Nigel Farage wrote the foreword to the book. Kassam self-published Enoch Was Right: ‘Rivers of Blood’ 50 Years On, on April 19, 2018.
Social Media
Raheem Kassam Instagram
With over 64.8k Instagram followers, Raheem Kassam is active on the social networking platform under the username “raheemkassam”. The far-right political activist often shares his controversial political views on Instagram.
In addition, he also gives his followers a rare glimpse into his private life and frequently shares photos with his friends and colleagues.
On March 17, 2022, Raheem Kassam shared a photo of himself at the George W. Bush Presidential Library. He captioned the photo, “You all know the world would be better and safer this way.”
Raheem Kassam Twitter
Raheem Kassam’s Twitter activity has attracted much negative attention in recent years. The editor-in-chief of Breitbart News London has 391k Twitter followers.
In June 2016, Kassam made a controversial tweet suggesting that the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, should have her “mouth taped shut. And her legs, so she can’t reproduce”. After facing several criticisms for his tweet, Kassam deleted it.
He was also bashed by the Scottish National Party MP Stewart McDonald on Twitter. Responding to this, Kassam said that a “National Socialist party would not lecture to him.”
Kassam later apologized for his statements. Moreover, Kassam also tweeted that Suzanne Evans, a candidate in the second 2016 UKIP leadership election, should “fuck off for good.” He also tweeted that Labor MP Angela Eagle should attend a “special needs class.”
Relationships and Dating History
Raheem Kassam is engaged to Noelle Garnier, his long-time girlfriend. The controversial political commentator got down on one knee and popped the question to his lady love in December 2020.
He proposed to Noelle at the White House. Noelle worked for former American prime minister Donald Trump.
Announcing their engagement, Kassam shared a photo of the lovebirds on his Twitter and wrote,
“The luckiest man on Earth tonight at the @WhiteHouse with @negarnier 💍🥰”.
However, the post seems to have been deleted recently.
Raheem Kassam Net Worth
As of 2022, Raheem Kassam has an estimated net worth of USD 1 million. His several career endeavors have accumulated impressive net worth. Due to this, Raheem leads a lavish lifestyle.
