Brexit Leader To Trump Supporters: Ignore Polls, Pundits
One of the top leaders of the Brexit movement suggested that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump voters should ignore polls and keep their momentum going forward.
“What I think that Brexit shows here is that the polling industry, the pundits, the experts… actually they could not accurately predict what happened in the referendum,” former United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage told SuperTalk radio, shortly before appearing at a rally with Trump, according to The Hill.
After his referendum for the U.K. to leave the European Union passed despite polls suggesting otherwise, Farage said that the same principle of unpredictable voter turnout could contribute to Trump becoming president.
“So I would say to people who are following the polls here in this presidential race very carefully — forget it! The polls do not know what is actually going to happen.”
Farage said that 2.5 million U.K. residents who do not typically vote showed up to the polls and cast their ballots, giving Brexit the push it needed to pass by an upset.
“My position is there are huge similarities between what made Brexit happen and what can help Trump to win,” he said.
Farage appeared alongside Trump at a campaign rally in Mississippi later that day, though he has not officially endorsed any U.S. presidential candidates. However, he did say that he would not vote for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton even if somebody paid him to, saying that she represents the same kind of establishment politics that he has fought against in his home country.
“The circumstances, the similarities, the parallels between the people that voted Brexit and the people that could beat Clinton in a few weeks’ time here in America are uncanny,” Farage told the radio station.
Trump, who continues to trail Clinton in polls, supported the Brexit vote and has even referred to himself as “Mr. Brexit,” notes the BBC.
Farage reportedly recounted his story of the unlikely Brexit vote upset at the rally.
“They all said it couldn’t happen,” Farage said. “We were wasting our time. With a well-aimed stone, we hit that big Goliath and knocked it over.”