Donald Trump “comes across as a bit of a chauvinist”, but “clearly does respect women”, Reform UK’s only female MP told the PA news agency.
After a Westminster press conference that focused on women’s safety, Sarah Pochin also said her party leader Nigel Farage was “quite right” to have backed former Reform MP James McMurdock, despite his conviction for assaulting his girlfriend.
The Runcorn and Helsby MP said: “Donald Trump certainly comes across at times, when I look at him through the television or the media, as possibly a bit of a chauvinist or whatever.
“But look at his team: I mean, his press secretary (Karoline Leavitt) is awesome.
“He has a lot of very senior women in his team, so actually, he clearly does respect women and promotes women in his team, as Nigel is very much doing, as you’ve seen today with four senior women hosting this press conference.
“So, Reform are doing what they’re doing, and as we’ve made it very clear this morning we are the only party that are putting the safety of women and children first.”
Ms Pochin went on to say that Mr McMurdock, who was convicted of repeatedly kicking his girlfriend in 2006, is a “shining example of someone who turned his life around”.
She told PA: “I think he was very young when that happened.
“But look, he’s married, he’s got five children, and he became a Member of Parliament…
“Once you start down and you’re in trouble with the courts, it’s so easy to go into a world of crime, but somebody like James turned his life around.”
She added that he is a “lovely chap” and Mr Farage was “quite right at the time” to support him.
Mr McMurdock now sits as an independent MP after allegations surfaced about his business dealings during the pandemic.
The Reform leader of Kent County Council, Linden Kemkaran, said: “He (Mr McMurdock) committed a crime in his youth. He was charged, convicted, served time for it, and since then, he’s had a blameless life.
“I think in this country, we do need to have a little bit of forgiveness if somebody has done something silly. We all make mistakes. Some mistakes are bigger than others, obviously.
“I’m not condoning violence against women at all, obviously, but I just think it’s, you know, where do you draw the line when someone’s rehabilitated and when they’re not, after having committed a crime and served time for it.”
She added: “I don’t really see why people keep going on about it.”
Both women went on to defend Reform UK’s decision to vote against bereavement leave for pregnancy loss after 24 weeks.
Ms Pochin said: “It’s clearly tragic when that happens. I’m a mother, I’ve got two grown-up boys, so I certainly can understand how people or mums or parents generally may feel absolutely distraught when that happens.
“But, you know, these things do happen. People have a lot of tragedy in their lives, and part of the human condition is that we pick ourselves up and we get on with it.”
When asked whether she was saying that people who experience pregnancy loss should just “get on with it”, she said: “That’s not what I’ve said.
“I made it very clear that it’s tragic and I feel compassionate as a mother towards anyone that that’s happened to.”
Ms Kemkaran added: “I think we have to be careful about giving people too much specialist leave for lots of special conditions.
“About losing a pregnancy, obviously, it’s a devastating thing to happen to any woman. I completely understand that. It’s absolutely devastating.
“I think it’s probably up to the individual employer to make sure their policies reflect their workforce.”
Meanwhile, the Reform Mayor for Greater Lincolnshire Dame Andrea Jenkyns told PA she nearly quit after the the police “let off” a man who “wanted to kill” her.
She said: “The guy who was walking around the streets of Morley looking for me… he wanted to kill me.
“I was in the hairdresser’s at the time, got a phone call, police telling me to stay there.
“And literally, the guy, they got hold of him, he said he was bored and got let off.
“But it’s like, all that police time wasted. Nobody should be, even if it’s a caution, nobody should actually be allowed to do these things.
“And, you know, I nearly quit then, because when you’re a mummy yourself, it might have been a joke to this person, but you take safety personally.”
She added: “We’ve got to have zero tolerance policing, just like Rudy Giuliani did in the US, where no crime is too small to get punished.”
