ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT ICON NIGEL FARAGE CAMPAIGNS FOR GOP NOMINEE …
Populist leaders from both sides of the Atlantic gathered in Mississippi as the U.S. presidential campaign entered its homestretch – but will the anti-establishment fever that took hold on one side of the pond spread to the other?
GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump is certainly hoping so … and he’s enlisted former United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage to help him.
Farage – the force behind Great Britain’s decision to leave the European Union (EU) – appeared with Trump at a campaign rally attended by 15,000 people in Jackson, Mississippi.
The “Brexit” champion – whose successful anti-establishment movement has drawn parallels to Trump’s populist insurgency – said America had a “fantastic opportunity” to follow the lead of his country in rebuking the status quo.
“You can beat the pollsters, you can beat the commentators, you can beat Washington,” Farage said. “We made June 23 our Independence Day when we smashed the establishment.”
“If you want change, you better get your walking boots on, you better get out there campaigning and remember, anything is possible if enough decent people are prepared to stand up against the establishment,” he added.
Farage didn’t endorse Trump – but he made no secret of his disdain for Clinton.
“I will say this: If I was an American citizen, I wouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton if you paid me,” he said. “I wouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton if she paid me.”
Farage also rebuked U.S. president Barack Obama – a staunch supporter of globalism and opponent of the “Brexit.”
“He talked down to us,” Farage said. “He treated us as if we were nothing.”
Aside from its seismic rebuke of the globalist elites, the Brexit also badly exposed the inaccuracy of mainstream political polling. On the eve of the election, public opinion surveys in Great Britain showed a likely 4-6 point defeat for the Brexit – although the movement wound up winning the day a 52-48 percent margin.
Trump – who has consistently trailed Clinton in the polls – is hoping that dynamic will also replicate on this side of the Atlantic.