Nigel Farage has argued that “it’s a matter of opinion” whether Donald Trump tried to overturn the 2020 US presidential election.
He also claimed that Trump, who recently became the first former or sitting president to be convicted of a crime, lost “because the law did nothing to prevent ballot harvesting”.
Trump, 77, was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records after being accused of concealing a payment to buy the former adult-film star Stormy Daniels’ silence in the final days of his 2016 election campaign.
He faces more court cases including on the 2020 presidential election.
The Reform UK leader was pressed on his own democratic credentials ahead of launching his party’s plan for Britain.
Mr Farage, who is standing to be MP for Clacton, defended himself but was then asked about his support for Trump whose supporters stormed Capitol Hill, in Washington, on January 6, 2020, after he had lost the election.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today progarmme: “As far as Trump is concerned, of course I want Trump back in the White House.
But pressed that Trump allegedly tried to overturn a democratic election, the Reform UK leader added: “Well that is a matter of opinion.”
Asked what his opinion was: “What happened on January 6 should not have happened.
“Did he actually urge people to storm the Capitol Building, no he did not.”
Presenter Justin Webb, though, quizzed Mr Farage again on whether it was a matter of opinion whether Trump had tried to overturn a democratic election.
He responded: “Well he said go in peace to the protestors and they didn’t.”
Challenged over whether he approved of the pressure put on then Vice-President Mike Pence not to confirm that the election was free and fair, Mr Farage: “No, I don’t approve of objecting to elections.”
Quizzed though on whether Trump did lose the election in 2020, Mr Farage said: “I think he lost it because the law did nothing to prevent ballot harvesting.”
Mr Farage was set to unveil Reform UK's manifesto, which the party dubs a "contract" with voters, in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales on Monday.
The party leader said he is "launching a crusade to defend British values" and that the location was chosen "because it shows everyone exactly what happens to a country when Labour is in charge".
But Reform was engulfed in a fresh row after one of its candidates, Grant StClair-Armstrong who was standing in North West Essex, resigned from the party after it emerged he previously allegedly called on people to vote for the BNP.
