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"If I was an American citizen, I wouldn't vote for Hillary Clinton if you paid me," Nigel Farage said
Similarities have been drawn between Trump's campaign and the pro-Brexit movement
Donald Trump hammered home his “America First” slogan on Wednesday by presenting the presidential election as a chance for voters to “re-declare American independence.”
To that end, he enlisted the help of a British nationalist.
Nigel Farage, the former leader of the UK Independence Party and a chief proponent of the British exit from the European Union earlier this summer, joined Trump on stage at a rally here to draw similarities between the UK’s vote to leave the European Union and Trump’s insurgent campaign.
After savaging President Barack Obama for urging British voters to remain in the European Union ahead of the “Brexit” referendum – “He talked down to us. He treated us as if we were nothing,” Farage said – Farage declined to endorse Trump. But he freely opined on the US presidential election.
“I will say this: If I was an American citizen, I wouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton if you paid me. I wouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton if she paid me,” Farage said, as Trump’s supporters roared with approval.
Farage later thanked Trump on Twitter for his “tremendous introduction” at the event.
Political observers have drawn a slew of similarities between Trump’s campaign and the pro-Brexit movement – particularly their populist and nationalist appeal – and Trump has also approvingly likened the two political movements.
“They will soon be calling me MR. BREXIT,” Trump, who had predicted the U.K. would vote to leave the EU, tweeted last week.
“I was very supportive of their right to do it and to take control of their own future, like we’re going to be voting for on November 8th,” Trump said Wednesday night. “They voted to reclaim control over immigration, over their economy, over their government.”
Farage’s visit comes as Trump continues to struggle in the polls, and the conservative British politician also sought to encourage Trump supporters not to despair, pointing to polling in the UK that hinted at defeat for the referendum to leave the EU.
“And actually they were all wrong,” Farage said. “Remember, anything is possible if enough decent people are prepared to stand up against the establishment.”