Far-right British politician Nigel Farage joined Donald Trump at a rally in Jackson, Mississippi on Wednesday to make the case that a vote for the Republican nominee was akin to UK voters’ decision to leave the European Union.
“You can beat the pollsters, you can beat the commentators, you can beat Washington,” Farage, the former leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party, told the crowd.
The controversial British conservative helped orchestrate the June Brexit vote before stepping down days later, saying he wanted his “life back.”
Trump has cheered the UK’s decision, framing it as a populist, nationalist uprising against the political class. Last week, he wrote in a tweet, “They will soon be calling me MR. BREXIT.”
“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 told the Mississippi audience on Wednesday. “They voted to reclaim control over immigration, over their economy, over their government.”
The 2016 election, Trump said, was an opportunity for voters to “re-declare American independence.”
In his ten-minute introduction, Farage pointed to polls that showed the “remain” vote in the lead ahead of the June 24 Brexit vote.
“Actually they were all wrong,” Farage said.
“If you want change in this country, you better get your walking boots on, you better get out there campaigning. Remember, anything is possible if enough decent people are prepared to stand up against the establishment,” he continued.
Though Farage declined to explicitly endorse Trump, he said that he “wouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton if you paid me.”
The circumstances of Farage’s appearance seemed muddled, despite the enthusiastic response he received from Trump and his fans. Trump press secretary Hope Hicks told Sky News on Wednesday that she knew nothing about the joint appearance and would “highly doubt” that the two would go on stage together.
“They don’t know each other,” Hicks insisted.
Her quotes have since been removed from the original Sky News story in which Farage announced he would take the stage in Jackson.
Nigel Farage: I’m appearing with Trump tonight!
Hope Hicks: New phone, who dis?https://t.co/GF6GtuH3v8 pic.twitter.com/Sa4KSw6O1w
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) August 24, 2016
