. @Nigel_Farage : “I would say to the EU: All that Trump has done are the same things that you yourself has done… and if you want to push it, this man will not back down.” pic.twitter.com/AAyFELpBR1

Monday on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” former UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage took on criticism President Donald Trump has received from inside the European Union for his trade policy that imposes tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Farage called the EU hypocritical for those attacks because it has similar policies on trade.

“The European Union is a club run by unelected bureaucrats, bullies — and they’re used to getting their own way,” Farage said. “And this story at the moment is being portrayed as Trump is the bad guy, the European Union is the good guys. Trump is the protectionist. The European Union are the free traders. It is deep hypocrisy for the EU to be doing this. They have already put tariffs on aluminum and steel. And the fact that Trump does it — so it’s OK for the European Union to do it, but it’s not OK for Trump to do it.”

“So it’s absolutely ridiculous, and if the European Union want to retaliate by putting further tariffs on Tennessee bourbon or Levi’s jeans or Harley Davidsons, they will find a tit-for-tat with German motorcars,” he continued. “So, I would say to the EU: All that Trump has done are the same things that you yourself has done. Leave it where it is. And if you want to push it, this man will not back down.”

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor