This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Nigel Farage received a rousing reception from American conservatives on Friday, as the audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) cheered Brexit and booed London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan.



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In fact, Donald Trump’s only competitor for the title of “Mr Brexit” may have been the president’s only competition for crowd favorite on the second day of the annual event.

Farage, the former leader of the United Kingdom Independence party (Ukip), was billed as the last speaker of the evening. Attendees streamed back into the main hall to hear his usual mix of boasts about his love for Trump and alcohol.

A fixture at CPAC and now a surrogate for politicians such as Trump and the failed Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, Farage has come to personify the growing influence on the conference and US politics of European-style rightwing populism.

On Thursday, the far-right French politician Marion Maréchal-Le Pen warned CPAC attendees of the dangers posed by Islam and “transhumanism”.

Farage once again told what he saw as the inspirational story of Brexit. He also warned of the dangers posed by the billionaire George Soros, the supposed leader of a globalist plot among those who “don’t believe in national identity” and “want us to live in a world with open borders”.

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Mention of Soros drew loud boos. The Hungarian-American billionaire has become a hated figure on the right over his support for progressive causes. He has also become the target of veiled antisemitic attacks.

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Farage was introduced by Raheem Kassam, a longtime aide who is now an editor at Breitbart. Kassam may have been even more controversial.

He attacked Khan, who was also loudly booed, and then referred to Enoch Powell’s infamous Rivers of Blood speech, saying Khan was “heaping up Britain’s funeral pyre”.

Powell’s 1968 speech, on immigration, led to his sacking from a shadow cabinet post under Edward Heath and eventually his departure from the Conservative party.