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Nigel Farage: UK's 'real friends' speak English

Former Ukip leader addresses audience members at annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington

Feliks Garcia
New York
Friday 24 February 2017 18:31 GMT
Nigel Farage says 'our real friends speak English'

Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage has said the UK's "real friends" speak English, in a remark seemingly aimed at the European Union.

Mr Farage addressed an enthusiastic audience at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, as right-wing Americans fully embraced the nationalism that characterises Trumpism and Brexit.

“Our real friends in the world speak English, have common law, and stand by us in times of crisis,” Mr Farage told the room of Trump supporters, in an apparent slight aimed at Britain's nearest neighbours on the continent.

President Donald Trump addressed the room earlier in the day. He issued yet another attack on the media’s unflattering coverage, doubling down on his attack that the press is the “enemy”.

“A few days ago, I called the fake news ‘the enemy of the people’, and they are. They are the enemy of the people,” the billionaire President said. “Because they have no sources. They just make them up where there are none.”

Mr Farage supported Mr Trump’s criticism of the news media, and said that he related to it.

“You’ve only had a few months of being abused, I’ve had 20 years of it,” he said.

The former party leader had recently complained that he felt like a “virtual prisoner” in his home, “frightened” of the media.

“It is because of these irrelevant people, who held no position, they happened to join an organisation, and because of these irrelevant people being demonised by liberal media, I’ve had to live years, frankly, of being frightened of walking out into the street all because the media picked out these people,” he told Piers Morgan.

“And because of these people, attempted to demonise me and give me a bad name.”

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