Donald Trump will win the US presidential election, Nigel Farage has claimed as his Reform UK party sought to play up its links with the Republican candidate.
The Reform leader had words of warning for Foreign Secretary David Lammy – who once described former president Mr Trump as a “neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath” – about a potential second Trump presidency.
He also claimed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris had a “history of being part of the radical left”, and sought to draw a comparison with Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party.
The Clacton MP was due to join Mr Trump’s campaign over the summer, before announcing his intention to stand for Parliament and take over the leadership of Reform.
Speaking to reporters at the Reform conference following his stump speech, Mr Farage said: “The fact that we have a Labour Government with a big majority who are going to be there for a few years, the fact that the Foreign Secretary has said some pretty unpleasant things about Donald Trump, if Trump wins, that doesn’t put us in a great place.”
Mr Farage claimed he had spoken to Team Trump in a bid to smooth over any perceived tensions, insisting it was “in the national interest of both of us that that’s forgotten”.
He added it was a “positive” that the door had since been opened to Mr Lammy.
Mr Farage went on: “The question is, is Trump going to win? I still think he is. But the thought that it is going to be down to a few tens of thousands of the votes in a handful of states in a country of that population is pretty remarkable.”
Asked about the Democratic nominee for the US presidency, the Reform UK leader told reporters: “She (vice president Ms Harris) does have a history of being part of the radical left, and I guess that’s probably how she would govern.
“Even Keir Starmer is governing to the left of how he campaigned in the general election.”
Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice had earlier claimed his boss’s relationship with Mr Trump is “to the benefit of this country”, in a bid to demonstrate the party’s international reach.
Asked if he thought the party leader was distracted from his constituency duties by his trips to the US, Mr Tice told the PA news agency: “Far from it.
“But as a leader of a party that is now becoming mainstream, international affairs, our relationship with our most important, strategic international partner – the US – is very important and the world will be a safer place if Donald Trump wins the presidential election.
“Nigel’s strong relationship with Donald Trump is actually to the benefit of this country and it’s quite right that he cements and strengthens that.”