Nigel Farage the leader of the UK Independence Party appeared on CNN Tuesday afternoon to discuss his support of Brexit, but was subjected to almost an interrogation-like interview from their reporter. “How much damage are you prepared to see,” CNN’s Richard Quest demanded to know, “How much damage are you prepared to accept before you rebuild the house?”
The interview was combative right from the start with Quest asking Farage about a speech he gave to the European Parliament earlier in the day, “You were almost gratuitously rude to the parliamentarians. And you enjoyed it!”
Farage explained that they were the ones shouting over him to the point where the president of the body had to quite them down, but Quest was having none of it, “But the point is, Mr. Farage, it hardly endears you to the very people who are going to have to give their consent to an agreement in two years’ time if you are rude to them.”
Quested wanted Farage to help make sense of the whole thing for the American audience, while also fear mongering about the markets, “How can Britain thrive, I didn't say survive, I say thrive outside of the European Union when the banks are being decimated in the share price and the threats have been very severe? … And the pound has fallen 13 – 14 percent. ”
Farage shot back stating:
And FTSE is up 3 percent today, 12 percent up since its lows in February, sterling is marginally lower than it was in February. So can we stop this nonsense about the markets?! You know, the Pound has been in a bear market since July, 2014, fact. Now, American viewers, imagine if NAFTA was a political union. Imagine if a court in Mexico could overrule everything that congress did. Imagine if you had free movement of people with Mexico. How would you feel?
It all seemed to come to a head when Quest exclaimed, “How much damage are you prepared to accept before you rebuild the house?” And Farage put the reporter in his place, responding:
Do you know something? Freedom, independence, democracy, not being a slave to somebody else is something upon which you can't put a price. And what we did last Thursday is we voted to take back our country, to take back our laws, our courts, our borders, our pride and self-respect.
Even with the interview being as combative as it was Farage took it in stride, often laughing and joking with Quest.
Partial transcript below:
CNN
Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield
June 28, 2016
12:40:35 PM EasternRICHARD QUEST: Ah, hello. If David Cameron is to some extent the official player on behalf of the United Kingdom in the dinners and meetings, Nigel Farage is, probably, the unofficial leader in that sense, because he was the an official leader within a large part of the Brexit campaign. We’ve already heard your speech, your part of it, in parliament this morning. You were almost gratuitously rude to the parliamentarians. And you enjoyed it!
NIGEL FARAGE: [Laughter] Well look, they were abusing me from the moment I started. Twice, the president of the parliament had to cease proceedings and say, “please listen to Mr. Farage.” Then what I said to them, can we be grown up about this? Can we talk about trade deals? Then they all laughed and giggled. That was when I said to them, “of course the trouble of you people is, none of you have ever had a proper job.” Which wasn't wrong!
QUEST: But the point is, Mr. Farage, it hardly endears you to the very people who are going to have to give their consent to an agreement in two years’ time if you are rude to them.
FARAGE: Well, they called me all the names under the sun. I just teased them about the fact that they are basically a bunch of bureaucrats who never had a proper job. Look, forget that—
QUEST: You don’t like them?
FARAGE: They don’t like me. It is mutual.
…
QUEST: Our viewers in the United States who are watching now and wondering what on Earth is going to happen to Britain. How can Britain thrive, I didn't say survive, I say thrive outside of the European Union when the banks are being decimated in the share price and the threats have been very severe?
FARAGE: You know yesterday—
QUEST: And the pound has fallen 13 – 14 percent.
FARAGE: And FTSE is up 3 percent today, 12 percent up since its lows in February, sterling is marginally lower than it was in February. So can we stop this nonsense about the markets?! You know, the Pound has been in a bear market since July, 2014, fact. Now, American viewers, imagine if NAFTA was a political union. Imagine if a court in Mexico could overrule everything that congress did. Imagine if you had free movement of people with Mexico. How would you feel?
You wouldn't like it. And what we are doing in the UK, we are reasserting our democratic rights and in terms of business and trade, we'll go on trading.
QUEST: You are starting to sound, in some way, with the similar policies to Donald Trump. Now, he admires the Brexit result. He said it was fantastic. It was brilliant. Do you admire Donald Trump, in the US Presidential election?
FARAGE: Well, Donald Trump dares to talk about things that other people want to brush under the carpet. But what Mr. Trump is doing in America is very different to what I am trying to do in the United Kingdom. My problem in politics is far greater than Donald Trump’s. We literally have lost our sovereignty, lost our borders. Lost our ability to regulate
…
QUEST: How much damage are you prepared to see? Because the chancellor now accepts that there will be a recession. He said so on BBC radio this morning. He accepts that there is going to be economic damage. How much damage are you prepared to accept before you rebuild the house?
FARAGE: Do you know something? Freedom, independence, democracy, not being a slave to somebody else is something upon which you can't put a price. And what we did last Thursday is we voted to take back our country, to take back our laws, our courts, our borders, our pride and self-respect.
And you know what? Actually, I think, in trade terms, we are going to do better than we did before. Just last night, the Australian and New Zealand prime minister said they want to come to the front of the cue for a trade deal with Britain.
…
