Kemi Badenoch has accused former Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf of intentionally liking an anti-Semitic online post about one of her party members.
The extraordinary accusation came yesterday after Mr Yusuf’s X account ‘liked’ a post attacking Robert Jenrick and his Jewish wife and children.
After the like emerged, Mr Yusuf issued an apology and said a member of his team had done it ‘accidentally’.
But shortly after sharing the apology, Tory justice spokesman Mr Jenrick accused the Reform UK politician of ‘bull****’ and demanded he be sacked from Nigel Farage’s party.
In a statement on X, Mr Jenrick said: ‘You’ve spent the last 48 hours calling me a “traitor” for not drawing attention to a leaked spreadsheet with our special forces and MI6 officers’ names on. But we’re meant to believe this tweet attacking me as a traitor for having a Jewish wife and family was liked “accidentally” by “one of the team”.’
He added: ‘You must think we’re all thick. No. The mask has slipped. Likes are private.
‘You thought nobody would ever know. Unfortunately for you, the racist account who posted the tweet could see the likes exposed you. Reform should give you the boot.’
Kemi Badenoch has accused former Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf (pictured) of intentionally liking an anti-Semitic online post about one of her party members
The extraordinary accusation came yesterday after Mr Yusuf’s X account ‘liked’ a post attacking Robert Jenrick (pictured) and his Jewish wife and children
Conservative leader Mrs Badenoch (pictured) has weighed in with her thoughts on the post in support of Mr Jenrick
In response, Conservative leader Mrs Badenoch then wrote: ‘Well said, Rob. Well said indeed.’
The offending statement – posted by an account called British Racial Chauvinism with the username Enoch-Is-Right – made discriminatory statements against Jewish people and those from other minority backgrounds.
It stated: ‘Reminder that Jenrick is a traitorous Zogbot with a Jewish wife and family.’
Then, using unfounded racist stereotypes and offensive language, the tweet claimed that Mr Jenrick had ‘imported’ people from a particular background to ‘rape our women and children’.
A video showing that Mr Yusuf’s account had liked the post began circulating on social media, prompting demands for Reform to suspend him and launch an investigation into his conduct.
In his apology, Mr Yusuf wrote: ‘One of the team who posts to my X account accidentally pressed like on an awful anti-Semitic tweet today. I apologise for this’.
He went on to explain language in the post was ‘equally racist against me’, proving that liking the post was ‘not intentional’.
He added: ‘The amount of anti-Semitism and racism on this platform is spiralling out of control. I hope that changes soon.’
Mr Jenrick said: ‘We’re meant to believe this tweet attacking me as a traitor for having a Jewish wife and family was liked ‘accidentally’ by “one of the team”’. Pictured: Jenrick with his wife Michal Berkner
Mr Yusuf resigned as chairman of Reform UK last month after almost a year in the role.
His resignation came shortly after he tweeted that Reform MP Sarah Pochin had asked a ‘dumb’ question after she challenged Keir Starmer to ban the burka at Prime Minister’s Questions. In his resignation message, he said working for Reform UK was not ‘a good use of my time’.
Some 48 hours later, Mr Yusuf returned to the party to head its Doge team – inspired by Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency in the US.
Shortly afterwards, party leader Mr Farage admitted that Mr Yusuf, who is Muslim, had been subject to ‘racial abuse’ on X.
Also unconvinced by the apology and explanation, Tory MP Jack Rankin wrote on X yesterday: ‘When people tell you who they are, believe them. Zia Yusuf’s mask has slipped and [he] must be sacked.’
A spokesman for the Board of Deputies of British Jews said: ‘This was a very concerning social media post and it is right that Zia Yusuf has distanced himself from it. We hope his office will be reviewing how this happened and ensuring it will not happen again.
‘We will be keeping a close eye on this going forward.’
Conservative sources have noted that Mr Yusuf’s language towards Mr Jenrick has become increasingly aggressive in recent days, having been ramped up in light of the Afghanistan data breach revelations.
In one of his posts on X, Mr Yusuf accused Mr Jenrick of lying, stating: ‘You’re a traitor to your country.’
Reform UK has been contacted for comment.
