π¨ NEW: Nigel Farage says Labour staff campaiging in the US for Kamala Harris is 'a very, very stupid thing to have done' pic.twitter.com/t6C0j3HydJ
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) October 23, 2024
Nigel Farage excused his own campaigning for Donald Trump today when he slammed Labour activists for supporting Kamala Harris in the US.
A diplomatic row has broken out after the Republican nomineeβs team filed a legal complaint accusing the UK party of βinterferingβ in the upcoming presidential election.
Labour says no rules have been broken and that activists campaigning there are doing so as volunteers, not in a party capacity.
But critics in the UK have not been so forgiving even if theyβve regularly endorsed a presidential candidate themselves.
βThe rules are very clear,β The Reform UK party leader, MP for Clacton and close friend of Farage, told ITV NewsΒ on Wednesday.
βForeign nationals can go to America, can campaign, speak, give opinions, thatβs all within the rules β but not if theyβre being provided money to do it.
βThey have to do it off their own back.β
Asked how that was different from his own appearances at Trump rallies, he said: βI wasnβt part of the British government. I didnβt go on behalf of the political party.
βI went in the wake of Brexit, and when I actually spoke in 2016 on the stage, I said to the audience in Mississippi, βIβm here but I canβt tell you who to vote forβ.
βAmerica is our most important ally in terms of military intelligence, strategic operations, in terms of being the backbone of Nato.
βThis is a β politically β very, very, stupid thing to have done.β
According to the Mirror, Farage used Β£33,000 of UK donor cash to travel to the US after he was elected in July.
But, when Labour minister Chris Bryant asked the Reform leader about these reports on BBCβs Politics Live,Β Farage said: βYou get things very often wrong when it comes to me and money, so be careful on that.
βI went last minute in a purely personal capacity to offer my support after the assassination [attempt].β
He added that he did not pay for his own flight, but supposedly βhoppedβ on somebody elseβs plane who gave him a free lift which he declared.
Farage said: βI didnβt campaign at all actually, I went purely in a personal capacity as a friend of the family.β




