UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage blamed President Obama for lowering America’s standing in the world, and also dismissed Jeb Bush’s presidential aspirations in an interview Friday with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham.
Farage’s growing party, which calls for Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, is a thorn in the right side of Conservative Party Prime Minister David Cameron, who is up for re-election in 2015. Farage is currently in the United States speaking to media outlets about his conservative “fourth party.”
“America has lost authority because if you think of all of the horrible things that have been going on over the course of the last month or two, where has Obama been? On the golf course,” Farage told Ingraham. “On the golf course, and he comes back and makes a press conference. But whether people agreed with what American presidents did or did not do, I think America’s standing in the world is really somewhat lower than it was because of your current president.”
Farage called 2016 Republican presidential prospect Jeb Bush a member of the “Establishment.”
“He represents the Establishment. He represents more of the same,” Farage said. “He represents the kind of Republican following of Romney, who is not going to reach those voters I spoke of earlier. Democrats have an advantage here with the changing population, so for the Republicans to win they need someone who is actually going to inspire people, and I’m not quite sure Jeb Bush ticks that box.”
Farage also blasted former CNN host Piers Morgan, a left-wing UKIP critic.
“[He] is one of the high priests of the metropolitan media elites who does not understand how people feel, and who deliberately attempts to misrepresent that controlling immigration is a rational, logical, sensible thing to do,” Farage said.
Farage also made broader points about the loss of populism in British politics.
“British politics has been transformed…when I was a boy, our Parliament was full of real people with life experience before going into politics…our leaders in Britain now, virtually all go to the same school, all go to the same Oxford College, all do the same degree, none of them have ever worked… They lack authenticity… I’m deeply flawed…should I hide that?”