Nigel Farage was challenged over Donald Trump’s felony convictions and sexual abuse ruling and asked if his pal was the sort of person Britain should be letting in
Nigel Farage asked about Donald Trump’s convictions
Nigel Farage has been confronted over Donald Trump’s criminal history and a sex abuse ruling against him – moments after vowing to crack down on sex offenders from overseas.
The Reform UK leader was asked whether the US President was “the right sort of person to be letting into this country”. In 2023 a civil ruling that saw Mr Trump ordered to pay $5million after jurors ruled he had sexually abused a columnist.
The Republican is set to meet Keir Starmer in Scotland today during a four-day visit to a golf course he owns – and will return for a state visit in September. During a press conference in central London, Mr Farage said his relations with Mr Trump were “good”.
He was asked by a journalist: “You talked about at the start letting the right sorts of people into the country. Donald Trump’s been convicted of a number of offences and found liable in court for sexual assault. Do you see him as the right sort of person to be letting into this country?”
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The Reform leader responded: “I think there was a civil case, not a criminal case, am I right or am I wrong? Thank you.” He was referring to a US District Court ruling in New York, which saw jurors find Mr Trump had sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s.
In June Mr Trump lost a federal court legal appeal over the ruling. He became the first US President to be convicted of felony crimes in 2024 after a jury found him guilty of all 34 charges over hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who said they had sex while he was married.
He was also facing criminal charges accusing him of trying to illegally overturn the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden. He was accused of conspiracy to defraud the US and conspiracy against the rights of citizens.
Despite the conviction and the questions about Mr Trump’s conduct, Mr Farage was clear that his pal is not the sort of person he was referring to when he hit out at foreign offenders.
“I’m talking about huge numbers of undocumented young males who throw their iPhones and their passports into the English Channel as they reach the 12 mile line,” Mr Farage clarified.
He said many of these men are from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Eritrea – countries where he said women “aren’t even second class citizens”. Mr Farage went on: “We will be talking over the next couple of weeks about the direct link between people like that from those backgrounds and the rise in sexual violence against women and girls in this country.”
Asked whether his relations with Donald Trump have cooled, Nigel Farage claimed that rocking up to Scotland to talk to his friend “wouldn’t work”. He claimed: “I’m in a slightly awkward position now, or he’s in a slightly awkward position with me. You know, I can’t just bowl up on a friendly trip for diplomatic reasons, you know, whilst he’s there with the Prime Minister negotiating steel tariffs and much else, it just doesn’t work.”
The Reform leader went on: “I’m in good terms with the administration. My relationship with Trump has always been one of friendship, but right at the moment, diplomatically, it doesn’t really work.”
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