Farage: Harris should pardon Trump to curb threat of unrest if she wins

Nigel Farage has said Kamala Harris should pardon his friend Donald Trump to “dampen down” the threat of unrest if she wins the US election.

The Reform UK leader also suggested the Republican candidate should concede defeat and “go and play golf” in Scotland rather than claim the vote was stolen if he suffers a “clear and decisive” loss on Tuesday.

Mr Trump faces sentencing later in November after he was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records over the payment of hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 election.

Mr Farage, who last month accused Labour of “direct interference” in the American vote after it emerged that party activists had volunteered for Ms Harris’s campaign, said: “If she gets in on Tuesday I hope she pardons him.

“She could look magnanimous and it would dampen down potential tensions.”

Civil disorder

Washington is braced for potential civil disorder after the storming of the US Capitol by pro-Trump insurrectionists following Joe Biden’s 2020 election win, with polls placing the Republican candidate and Ms Harris in a dead heat.

Mr Farage suggested his friend should avoid rejecting Tuesday’s result, as he did four years ago if he loses decisively to his Democrat rival.

“If it was clear and decisive then maybe it’s time (for Mr Trump) to go and play golf at Turnberry,” he said.

“It’s all hypothetical and I still think he is going to win.”

‘Election interference’

His intervention comes after he last month accused Labour of “direct election interference” over its staffers helping the Democrats, which the party says is common practice and done at activists’ own expense and in line with US laws.

“This is direct election interference by the governing Labour Party, and particularly stupid if Trump wins. Who is paying for all this?” he had written on X, formerly Twitter.

The Clacton MP has travelled to the US to support Mr Trump on multiple occasions, including a visit in July for which he declared £32,836 from a private donor for flights and accommodation.

In the register of MP interests, he said the purpose of the trip was “to support a friend who was almost killed and to represent Clacton on the world stage”.

Mr Farage turned up at the Trump rally in the swing state of Pennsylvania on Monday, where both US candidates converged in a final push before election day.

As recently as Sunday, Mr Trump renewed his false claims that American elections are rigged against him, mused about violence against journalists and said he “shouldn’t have left” the White House in 2021.

Ms Harris has vowed to be a president “for all Americans” and urged voters to take the opportunity to “turn the page” on the politics of “division”.