Anti-EU British politician and former Ukip leader Nigel Farage is scheduled to appear with Donald Trump at a rally on Wednesday, a week after the US presidential candidate branded himself “Mr Brexit” and tapped one of the leading American supporters of Brexit to run his campaign.
Farage will appear with Trump at an evening rally in Jackson, Mississippi, to tell US voters “the Brexit story” of how he triumphed over the electoral odds. Farage is not expected to endorse Trump.
Arron Banks, the businessman who backed Leave.EU, the Brexit campaign group associated with the UK Independence party (Ukip), tweeted that he would be meeting Trump over dinner and was looking forward to Farage’s speech.
The appointment last week of Stephen Bannon, former chairman of the Breitbart website, as “CEO” of Trump’s campaign has seen the example of the Brexit vote, which Breitbart enthusiastically advocated, rise to the fore in Trump’s campaign narrative.
Trump hopes to ride to victory a populist wave of nationalist enthusiasm comparable to the movement behind Britain’s June vote to leave the European Union. As leader at the time of Ukip, Farage was a key promoter of the Brexit.
Both Farage and Trump are keen to limit immigration and protect voters against some of the impact of globalisation.
Farage was condemned during the Brexit referendum campaign for using anti-immigration rhetoric, including a poster showing a queue of refugees with the slogan “Breaking Point”; Trump has promised to impose “extreme vetting” on potential immigrants.
In a further parallel with Brexit politics, the Trump campaign has argued in recent days that it enjoys support not reflected in the polls, from undercover voters who are shy about admitting their support for the controversial nominee.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2016They will soon be calling me MR. BREXIT!
In the immediate aftermath of the referendum, Trump flew to Scotland, where he owns a golf resort, and enthusiastically welcomed the decision of the voters to leave the EU, saying it was a “great thing” that voters had “taken back their country”.
Farage has expressed “massive thanks” to Bannon and Breitbart for their favorable coverage of the Leave campaign.
“And can I just say a massive thanks to Breitbart, on both sides of the pond?” Farage told Bannon after the vote. “Because you guys have been fair with me, and given me a chance to make my arguments. I thank you guys very much indeed for that.”
Farage is taking a more prominent role in the Trump campaign even as he stepped away from British politics. Farage stepped down as Ukip leader in the wake of the vote, but has hinted that he could re-enter frontline politics if the British prime minister, Theresa May, does not rapidly press ahead with her promise to ensure that, “Brexit means Brexit”.
Farage has appeared at Republican events in the past, beginning with a well-received speaking gig at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Farage also popped up at the Republican national convention in Cleveland last month, where he declared himself himself “a huge fan of Barack Obama”.
“Without him we wouldn’t have won the referendum,” Farage explained. “He was very helpful.” The US president had encouraged Britain to remain part of the EU.
Dan Schneider, the executive director of the American Conservative Union, raved at the time about Farage’s CPAC appearance to the Guardian, calling him a “very smart, very funny man and he can turn a phrase very well”.
Farage is not uniform in his support of Trump, however. Last month he told an interviewer that Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric makes him “very uncomfortable”.
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