Farage tells Trump rally: I wouldn’t vote for Hillary if you paid me
Leading Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage has addressed a Donald Trump rally in the US, but stopped short of explicitly endorsing the Republican presidential candidate.
Donald Trump welcomes Nigel Farage to speak at a campaign rally in Mississippi. Photo: AP
“I could not possibly tell you how to vote in this election,” he said.
“But I will say this, if I was an American citizen I wouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton if you paid me.”
The majority of his speech in Jackson, Mississippi. focused on the success of the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union.
He framed it as a victory for the anti-establishment movement – a theme that is also popular in Trump’s campaign.
“Anything is possible if enough decent people are prepared to stand up against the establishment,” Farage said.
He condemned President Barack Obama’s decision to intervene in the EU referendum and urge Britons to vote Remain.
Farage told the audience at the Mississippi Coliseum that they could challenge the expectations of pollsters as Brexit campaigners had.
He said that he came to the UK with a message of hope that “the little people” could “overcome” big banks and multinationals.
Earlier, during an interview with Fox News anchor Sean Hannity, Trump backed away farther from his hardline stance on deporting millions of illegal immigrants, saying he would be willing to work with those who had followed US laws while living in the country.
The comments signalled a further softening in his immigration position as he girds for a battle against Clinton in the November 8 election and faces pressure to bolster support among moderate voters and minority groups.
Trump, who defeated 16 rivals for the Republican presidential nomination in part based on his opposition to illegal immigrants, said he would not permit American citizenship for the undocumented population and would expel lawbreakers.
To qualify to remain in the United States, Trump said, illegal immigrants would have to pay back taxes.
“No citizenship. Let me go a step further – they’ll pay back taxes, they have to pay taxes, there’s no amnesty, as such, there’s no amnesty, but we work with them,” Trump said.
“But when I go through and I meet thousands and thousands of people on this subject, and I’ve had very strong people come up to me … and they’ve said: ‘Mr Trump, I love you, but to take a person who’s been here for 15 or 20 years and throw them and their family out, it’s so tough, Mr Trump’.”
Trump said he would outline his position soon.
“Well, I’m going to announce something over the next two weeks, but it’s going to be a very firm policy.”
-PA