Base Jumper Felix Baumgartner Has Some Interesting Views on the Refugee Crisis

This post originally appeared on VICE Alps.

Austrian base jumper Felix Baumgartner has done it again, and this time, we don't mean jumping from the stratosphere. After proclaiming that we needed a "moderate dictatorship" in 2012 (his solution being to hand over leadership to the private sector), he's now all over the Austrian side of the internet with his latest political remark, this time about the refugee situation in Europe.

On 25th January, Baumgartner posted the following on Facebook:

"Idiots" was highlighted, in red. Naturally, that prompted many responses, not all in favour of the extreme athlete. In reply to his haters, Baumgartner wrote another Facebook post, and this time things really took off.

"You call me a tax refugee who's suffered from a shortage of oxygen, and a right-wing Nazi. I say, is that EVERYTHING you've got?"

Baumgartner then admits he has migrated his tax obligations from Austria to Switzerland, but argues that he's "not a tax refugee, just a tax optimiser". This point of reasoning may be especially noteworthy to said "people without passports", who could take a page out of Baumgartner's book. Perhaps they could rename themselves 'home country optimisers' from now on.

In the lengthy, rambling post, Baumgartner goes on to say: "I'm not afraid of any Shitstorm in the world!", criticising the "troublemakers who are bored out of their mind", while at the same time calling their comments a "revenge of the weak".

Baumgartner declares that "Politics and correctness are as contrary as Christianity and Islam", and refers to the assaults on New Year's Eve in Cologne, stating that he's here to "protect women's rights". Last summer, Baumgartner posted a picture of himself using his girlfriend's back as a table.

But the real gem comes at the end. "Where is the call to action from Brussels that the United States – who've destabilised Europe – help us cope with this refugee movement of biblical proportions?" Baumgartner asks. "There's reason to believe the US did what they did intentionally."

"Since Obama, who led more wars and killed more people than any other US President, was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, [Hungary's right-wing prime minister] Viktor Orbán should get one, too," he continues. He concludes his remarks with this note: "Publication or quotation of these words, even in extracts, is only granted with reference to the source: Facebook / Felix Baumgartner."

So here is a reference to the source: Facebook / Felix Baumgartner.

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