Nigel Farage backtracks over supporting Donald Trump after ‘ugly’ remarks about sexual assault

‘There are lots of things in this campaign that I couldn’t support in any way at all,’ says acting Ukip leader

Saturday 15 October 2016 14:14 BST
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Nigel Farage has been advising the Trump campaign
Nigel Farage has been advising the Trump campaign

Nigel Farage has backtracked on his support for Donald Trump, saying the Republican presidential nominee’s remarks about sexually assaulting women were “ugly”.

The acting leader of UKIP was quizzed about his links to Mr Trump during a BBC Panorama special.

Mr Farage has appeared at one of Mr Trump’s rallies where he was introduced as “Mr Brexit”.

“There is no question that this recent tape, ugly as it is, has really hurt him badly, of course,” Mr Farage told Panorama.

“I just saw this whole thing as sort of, an extreme form of alpha-male boasting – it is the kind of boasting that some men do – it doesn’t mean that they actually do it.”

Mr Farage added that despite the controversy many of Mr Trump’s supporters would stand by him.

“You know, there are lots of things in this campaign that I couldn’t support in any way at all and nor do I. But I spoke to people who were Trump voters ... and do you know what – they couldn’t care less,” Mr Farage added, according to The Guardian.

“They couldn’t give a damn what Trump says, who he offends, because they see him as their weapon against the establishment and they see Hillary as being the epitome of that establishment.”

It comes after Cabinet minister Damian Green said Mr Trump’s comments were “offensive” but refused to say whether he thought he was “unfit” to become president.

“I think it’s a seriously bad idea for government ministers from another country to try and advise democratic, friendly countries which way to vote,” Mr Green said on BBC’s Question Time.

“I'm not being unnecessarily pompous, I'm just being careful.”

The US presidential election is due to be held on 8 November.

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