WATCH: Nigel Farage attacks 'liberal elite' outrage over Donald Trump's Britain First tweets
2 min read
Nigel Farage has defended Donald Trump after the US president re-tweeted far-right group Britain First, saying it is "ridiculous" to suggest banning coming to the UK.
The former Ukip leader said Mr Trump would not have had an "earthly clue" who Britain First are, and said he could not be expected to "research everything".
In a heated discussion on the Andrew Marr Show, Mr Farage claimed the response to the furore had been over the top.
"Do I think, Andrew, those tweets were in good taste? Not particularly, no," he said
"The point is the level of outrage from the liberal elite in this country is out of all proportion with what happened here and every single time...and the idea that that should lead to half the Labour party saying he shouldn't be allowed to come to our country frankly is ridiculous and I think is viewed by the public as being ridiculous."
Reports this morning suggest the president will visit the UK briefly at the end of February, but will not enjoy a full state visit.
He attempted to defend Mr Trump over the retweets, which drew criticism from Downing St and MPs across the House of Commons.
Mr Farage suggested the president had simply picked up on the videos because they were publicised by rightwing US commentator Ann Coulter.
"There are 43.6m people that follow Donald Trump. Donald Trump follows 45 people," he said.
"One of those is Ann Coulter, a rightwing American commentator. She retweeted these videos, he picked it up from her and retweeted it. He wouldn't have an earthly clue who Britain First were...Of course he doesn't research everything."
CHARLOTTESVILLE
The eurosceptic firebrand also echoed Mr Trump's own language about the protests in the town of Charlottesville, where leftwing demonstrators clashed with a group of white supremacists.
Mr Trump was roundly condemned for saying there had been violence on "both sides", a point reiterated by Mr Farage.
"Of course, I would condemn the extremists in Charlottesville, but the extremists on both sides and it's very important that we don't get stuck," Mr Farage said.
"There are people out there on the left in this country that use violence to pursue their means, there's bad on both sides, it's important to recognise that.
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