Vice President JD Vance wrote on X over the weekend that Henry Nowak, an 18-year-old white student stabbed to death by a Sikh man wielding a ceremonial dagger, “died the same way a civilization dies, handcuffed by authorities who neither trusted nor cared for him, and accused of hate crimes he did not commit.” Vance added that “the proper response – the only response – is righteous anger.” The language closely tracked a statement from Farage, who said the case should provoke “pure, cold rage,” The Guardian reported.
Hegseth, speaking Saturday at the American military cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer on the 82nd anniversary of D-day, said: “Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different, dangerous ideologies … When will European capitals do something about that invasion, or is it too late?” The speech was widely denounced after delivery, according to The Guardian.
The U.S. State Department issued a statement referring to “ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing,” implying that British police discriminate against white people, though the department did not provide evidence. The intervention by senior U.S. officials in the policy decisions of a close ally is unusual and reflects “a sign of the Trump administration’s preference for a Reform victory at the next general election,” The Guardian reported, attributing the assessment to unnamed analysts.
According to The Guardian, the case stems from the murder of Nowak, a student in Southampton, by Vickrum Digwa, who was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years. Police bodycam footage released after the trial showed Nowak telling officers he had been stabbed and one officer replying, “I don’t think you have, mate.” The trial judge rejected claims from Digwa’s brother that Nowak had hurled racial abuse and knocked off Digwa’s turban, saying Digwa had brought shame upon his family and his religion. Hampshire police have apologized, and an independent police watchdog is investigating.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer refrained from criticizing Vance directly but his office issued a statement referring to unnamed people “trying to interfere in our democracy and seeking to stir up division on our streets.” Nowak’s family said they did not want Henry’s death to be used “to create further division, hatred, or tension.” Far-right activists and Reform UK leaders clashed with police in Southampton last week.
Thomas Greven of the Free University of Berlin, an expert on far-right movements, told The Guardian that “international networking has become a central strategy of the radical right, who have recognized that their fight against the hegemony of the ‘global liberal elites’ has to be conducted globally.”
The Guardian also reported that Vance has deepened ties with the international far right since the 2025 inauguration. In a February speech in Munich, he described liberal western governments as a “threat from within” and cited the arrest of a British anti-abortion activist as an example of the “retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values.” He has met with Alice Weidel, the leader of Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland party, and campaigned for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s unsuccessful re-election bid earlier this year.
Trump’s chief domestic policy adviser, Stephen Miller, was described by The Guardian as “similarly steeped in far-right ideology,” citing emails leaked to the Southern Poverty Law Center showing his enthusiasm for the novel The Camp of the Saints, which imagines Asians overrunning Europe. Guests at Trump’s second inauguration in January 2025 included Farage, members of the AfD, and right-wing heads of state such as Javier Milei of Argentina and Giorgia Meloni of Italy.