Trump’s victory in the presidential race is “bigger than Brexit”, Nigel Farage has said.
Watching the results coming in at the U.S. Embassy, the interim leader of the UK Independence Party told press that 2016 was shaping up to be “the year of two great political revolutions.
“I thought Brexit was big but, boy, this looks like it’s going to be even bigger,” he added.
Farage proclaimed Trump’s win as a victory for “the little people, it’s the ordinary people [who are] rising up against an establishment that has done them down very badly over the course of the last couple of decades.”
And he said he was unsurprised by the result as “the political class is reviled across much of the West.
“The polling industry’s bankrupt, and the press just hasn’t woken up to what’s going on in the world,” he said.
Speaking to The Telegraph in the early hours of this morning, Farage said the result was good news for Britain, who would now have a friend in the White House.
“This is a massive result as far as Britain is concerned with having a friend in the White House, [who] admires our culture, feels his mother’s Scottish roots very deeply and wants to put us at the front of the queue for trade deals.”
On the question of whether Trump would have to be persuaded to back NATO, Farage said: “We can build a very important bridge with NATO. He is asking very important questions about why some members aren’t pulling their weight.”
Arguing that Britain should not be “afraid” of Mr. Trump, he added: ” Do you know what? We just rejected a hawk, a neo-con in favour of someone who wants to talk to Mr Putin, who wants jaw-jaw not war-war. This guy is not a military hawk.
“It’s good news for all of us in the Western World who believe in nation-state democracy.”
As British politicians lined up to express their disgust and dismay at the result – Labour MP Mike Gapes said the result was “much worse” than Brexit, while Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said it was “not the result [she] wanted” – Farage countered that the political establishment in Britain made a “huge mistake” by failing to take Trump seriously.
“I think we are seeing a sea-change in politics and not before time in my view,” he said, adding: “I was in London tonight but I shall be in America later in the week.”
A spokesman for UKIP donor Arron Banks said he and Farage will be on the first flight to Washington DC today.
Meanwhile, in a statement, Prime Minister Theresa May has congratulated Trump on his election, after what she described as a “hard fought campaign”.
She continued: “Britain and the United States have an enduring and special relationship based on the values of freedom, democracy and enterprise.
“We are, and will remain, strong and close partners on trade, security and defence.
“I look forward to working with President-elect Donald Trump, building on these ties to ensure the security and prosperity of our nations in the years ahead.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.