Farage backs Trump campaign
Nigel Farage, a key figure in the successful campaign to get Britain out of the European Union, lent his support to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump yesterday, saying Trump represented the same type of anti-establishment movement he masterminded in his own country.
Farage appeared with Trump before a crowd of thousands at a rally in Jackson, Mississippi.
Farage partly based his Brexit drive on opposition to mass immigration to Britain. His appearance came as Trump is seeking to moderate his own hardline stance against illegal immigration.
Trump yesterday backed further away from his vow to deport millions of illegal immigrants, saying he would be willing to work with those who have abided by United States laws.
Trump summoned Farage on stage in the middle of his appearance, shook his hand and gave him the microphone.
Farage said he would not endorse Trump because he did not want to repeat what he called US President Barack Obama’s meddling in British affairs when Obama urged Britons to stay in the EU.
‘‘I cannot possibly tell you how you should vote in this election. But you know I get it, I get it. I’m hearing you,’’ he said.
‘‘But I will say this – if I was an American citizen, I wouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton if you paid me. In fact, I wouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton if she paid me.’’
Farage drew parallels between the Brexit movement and the support Trump has received from many Americans who feel left behind by Washington.
‘‘They feel people aren’t standing up for them and they have in many cases given up on the whole electoral process and I think you have a fantastic opportunity here with this campaign,’’ he said. Syria to join Islamic State just a few weeks after collecting more than US$91,000 in settlement money for his injuries. Mohamed Amiin Ali Roble, 20, was charged yesterday with providing and conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation. Roble was weeks shy of his 11th birthday when the school bus he was riding in plummeted about 10 metres as the bridge collapsed. He was one of 145 people who were hurt, and received the settlement funds on his 18th birthday.