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  1. Politics
  2. The Staggers
10 October 2016

3 times Nigel Farage has defended Donald Trump: “This is alpha male boasting“

The Ukip leader has a soulmate across the pond. 

By Julia Rampen

Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has described Ukip’s leader (yet again) Nigel Farage as the “man behind Brexit”.

And some commentators are starting to suspect that Farage is becoming the man behind Trump. 

He has spoken at Trump’s rallies, and has popped up after the presidential debates to defend his friend.

1. On sexual assault talk

Footage emerged of Trump bragging about how he groped women and tried to seduce a married TV presenter. Here’s what Farage had to say:

“Look, this is alpha male boasting. It’s the kind of thing, if we are being honest, that men do. They sit around and have a drink and they talk like this.”

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2. On tax returns

Trump has consistently refused to reveal his tax returns, and has declared he is “smart” for not paying taxes.

Farage’s take?  

“I would suggest that he needs to do is point out age 70 how much tax he has paid over the course of the last 50 years, not what he paid last year.”

3. On language

Trump has launched personal attacks on everyone from fellow Americans to the parents of a Muslim US soldier killed serving his country. 

But according to Farage:  

“He’s not afraid to speak his mind, and yeah, I know that absolutely gets the liberal establishment screaming blue murder, but maybe that’s the way politics is going in the west.”

So are Farage and Trump soulmates? In 2015, Farage chose a different comparison. He told the Institute for Direct Democracy in Europe: “In terms of Donald Trump, I will avoid all comparisons of Donald Trump, but I like to think of myself as the updated Henry VIII.”

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