Nigel Farage investigated over US trip to attend Trump rally

Nigel Farage investigated over US trip to attend Trump rally

The Brexit Party leader was allowed to travel despite coronavirus restrictions.

By LAURENZ GEHRKE 6/23/20, 1:57 PM CET Updated 6/23/20, 6:06 PM CET

https://www.politico.eu/article/nigel-farage-investigated-over-us-trip-to-attend-donald-trump-rally/

A Democratic member of the U.S House of Representatives launched an investigation after Nigel Farage flew to the States to attend a Donald Trump rally despite the coronavirus pandemic.

"The decision of the Trump Administration to admit Mr. Farage to the United States ... at a time when most travel from the United Kingdom to the U.S. has been suspended raises numerous troubling questions, as does the claim that such travel was in the national interest," Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House's committee on homeland security, wrote in a letter to the acting director of the Department of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf.

In order to slow the spread of the coronavirus, only U.S. citizens, their family members and "individuals who meet specified exceptions," are allowed to travel to the U.S. from Britain.

But on Saturday, Brexit Party leader Farage posted a picture of himself on Twitter, captioning it: "In the USA, only twenty four hours from Tulsa." The city in Oklahoma was the location of a Trump campaign rally, which was beset with problems.

Thompson said a statement sent to his staff by U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed Farage was initially denied boarding while attempting to fly from the U.K. to the U.S., due to coronavirus restrictions, but the Department of Homeland Security later said his travel was "permissible" as his entry to the States "would be in the national interest."

Farage has attended Trump rallies in the past and in 2016 met with the president at Trump Tower in New York. Trump once said Farage would be a good fit for U.K. ambassador to the U.S.

Authors:

Laurenz Gehrke