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16 May 2014updated 22 Jul 2021 4:43am

“What is racism?” Nigel Farage’s disastrous interview on LBC

The Ukip leader had a car-crash interview with LBC's James O’Brien this morning, only made worse by his director of communications Patrick O’Flynn interrupting him live on air.

By Anoosh Chakelian

Nigel Farage was mauled live on air by LBC’s James O’Brien this morning, in over 22 painful minutes of questioning over whether his party is racist, how comfortable he is with his wife speaking German, and his financial arrangements. During a heated exchange about his MEP expense allowances, his communications director, former Daily Express journalist Patrick O’Flynn, felt the need to interrupt the interview live on air: “I’m sorry, we had an agreement about timing, you’ve massively…” The Ukip leader waved him away, looking, if possible, even more flustered.

Watch the interview here:

And if it’s too eye-watering for you to watch, here are the worst bits:

 – Referring to a comment Farage made recently about non-English speakers on a train journey, he was asked whether he feels “uncomfortable” that his wife speaks German. “I don’t suppose she speaks it on the train”, he replied.

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 – Having been repeatedly asked what the difference is between having German people living nextdoor, or Romanians, he said, “you know what the difference is”.

 – On being questioned about racism in his party, he asked, “what is racism?”

 – Being interrupted live by his comms chief, Patrick O’Flynn, formerly of the Express – who O’Brien pointed out as someone who could reasonably be referred to as “a friend in the media” or “a member of the political class”, traits Farage condemns in the other political parties.

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