Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, has hinted that divine intervention may have played a role in saving his life during a plane crash in 2010.
Farage, who was running as a Ukip candidate at the time, was involved in a light aircraft crash while campaigning in the general election. Despite the severity of the incident, he and the pilot survived.
Detective Chief Inspector Martin Kinchin of Northamptonshire Police, who was involved in the investigation, described the outcome as remarkable, saying, “The people inside the plane were lucky to come out with not very serious injuries.”
During an interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain today, Farage was asked about his friend, former US President Donald Trump, who recently claimed that “divine intervention” saved him during an assassination attempt in July. Presenter Richard Madeley challenged Farage on his views regarding such beliefs.
Farage responded, defending those who believe in higher powers: “I find your line of attacking those who believe that there are sometimes divine interventions, and that there are people out there who believe in God, and sometimes they get spared, I find that line very cynical.”
Reflecting on his own experience, he added: “I was in an aeroplane that crashed into the ground in 2010. I was smashed to pieces. I shouldn’t have survived. I’ve no idea why, but I did. Who knows, maybe even I believe that at times there is a higher intervention that can work in your favour.”
Madeley pressed Farage further, suggesting that his belief in divine intervention might not extend to political ambitions, as Trump has claimed that God wants him to be president. Farage responded by citing historical examples: “Do you know what? British armies for centuries have fought saying ‘God is on our side.’ People need to believe in something.”
He continued, defending Trump’s faith: “If you were faced with the prospect of walking out of your front door and someone might shoot you every day, because it’s happened twice in the last two months, the fact that he has a religious faith, maybe that’s what is giving him the strength to continue.”
Farage’s remarks about divine intervention came in the same interview where he controversially echoed Trump’s debunked claim that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, had been eating pets. This conspiracy theory, widely ridiculed and traced back to a misreported incident, has been discredited, but Farage repeated it in his defense of the former president.
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