Two of the most divisive figures in Western politics joined forces last night when Nigel Farage addressed a Donald Trump rally.
Mr Farage said he was invited to speak at the rally in Jackson, Mississippi to tell the “Brexit story”. However, it appears a large percentage of the crowd were confused by his presence.
According to the Guardian, a quick random survey of the crowd saw eight out of ten spectators admitting to not knowing who Mr Farage was or what Brexit was.
This was apparent at times throughout the speech as the usually loud crowd went quiet when Mr Farage discussed the country being run by a “bunch of unelected old men in Brussels”, a statement met by feeble cheers.
“There was the occasional moment at the rally, however, when the declared parallels between the Brexit vote and the Trump campaign seemed to be lost on the crowd," reports the New York Times.
Elsewhere in his ten-minute speech, Mr Farage described how the UK “smashed the establishment” for voting for Brexit and encouraged Mr Trump's supporters to take to the streets and spread the word, drawing vigorous nods and claps from the Republican nominee.
While Mr Farage may not have formally endorsed the real estate mogul he gave a good indication of which way he was leaning when he told the crowd he would “not vote for Hillary Clinton if you paid me, in fact I wouldn't vote for Hillary Clinton if she paid me”.
While the crowd may have been confused as to who he was, that did not mean they didn’t support him. While the crowd may have started out with some unsure cheering, his message soon resonated and he received applause, cheers and “Vote Trump!” chants as he discussed beating the pollsters and criticised Barack Obama.
“It gave the Americans more motivation to see what we can do with our country,” one woman told the BBC following his speech.
Mr Trump also seemed impressed, crooning afterwards: “Wowwwww, thank you Nigel, what a job he did, what a job he did, against all odds."
