Nigel Farage, the former leader of the UK Independence Party, has announced his support for Donald Trump – saying that his rival Hillary Clinton represented “the status quo”.

Speaking in Mississippi ahead of a joint appearance with the Republican presidential candidate, Mr Farage said that he felt “optimistic” when he heard him speak. While stopping short of a formal endorsement, his comments and appearance at the rally, make very clear whom he thinks Americans should vote for.

He told The Independent: “I have not come to endorse anyone. I am here to tell the Brexit story.”

But Mr Farage, who said he had accepted an invitation from the governor of Mississippi, said that if he were a US citizen he would not vote for Ms Clinton. Asked if would vote for Mr Trump, said: “I would not vote for Hillary Clinton. That is my position.”

Mr Farage said he believed that the US and Britain were having a similar conversation about the issues of security and immigration. Asked why he was sharing a stage with someone who has been accused of racism and misogyny, he said: “I am here to tell the Brexit story. I recognised the level of interest in Brexit was pretty high here in the US. I was struck by the interest at the Republican National Convention.”

Earlier, Mr Farage spoke to the hosts of the radio station Super Talk Mississippi where he spoke of his admiration for several aspects of Mr Trump’s politics.

“I think we should start with Hillary Clinton. She represents the status quo,” he said of the Democratic candidate. “She represents what has happened to politicians elsewhere in the West.”

Donald Trump pleased at Brexit

He added: “I don’t think its exactly clear where Donald Trump stands on all economic issues, but when I've heard him talk about small businesses and the little entrepreneurs….and the levels of bureaucracy, I feel optimistic.”

Mr Trump and Mr Farage will appear at the Mississippi Coliseum in the city of Jackson. Asked what he would be telling suporters, he said: “I'm going to say to people in this country that the circumstances, the similarities, the parallels, between the people that voted Brexit and the people that could beat Clinton in a few weeks' time here in America are uncanny."

He said: "And if they want things to change, they've got to get up out of their chairs, go out, and fight for it. It can happen.“

(Reuters (Reuters)

Mr Trump came out as a strong supporter of the Leave campaign. On the morning the result of the referendum came in, he held a press conference in Scotland where he claimed the British people had “taken back their country”.

“They’re angry over borders, they’re angry over people coming into the country and taking over, nobody even knows who they are,” he said. “They’re angry about many, many things.”

Asked whether he felt his campaign in the US had influenced the outcome, he said: “Good question. I gave my opinion over the last few months but its not about me. It’s about them. I think they will be stronger for it.”

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He said this despite the majority of people in Scotland voting to remain in the EU. And just weeks earlier Mr Trump, when interviewed in the US, suggested he was not familiar with the word “Brexit”.

Last week, Mr Trump declared that he considered himself "Mr Brexit", though he did not provide further details. What is clear, is that Steve Bannon, the head of Breitbart News who Mr Trump recently appointed as the head of his campaign, was a strong supporter of Brexit.

By contrast, Mr Farage has said he believed Barack Obama was one of the reasons for Britons’ voting to leave.

“I’m a huge fan of Barack Obama,” he said last month during a visit to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. “Without him we wouldn’t have won the referendum. He was very helpful.”

The US president visited London in April and made an impassioned plea to Britons to remain in the EU. The UK would be at the “back of the queue” in any trade deal with the US, he warned.

Mr Farage added: “The moral of the story is, I shall not say at the end of this week who I think you should vote for, although I have to say, I wouldn’t vote for Hillary if you paid me. Her sense of entitlement kind of puts me off.”