British politician Nigel Farage, who US President-elect Donald Trump has said would be great as the UK’s ambassador to Washington, has offered to help the government of Prime Minister Theresa May to mend fences with the incoming Trump administration.
In an interview with CNN on Thursday, Farage, the interim leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the Brexit campaigner, said he would like to act as a "middle man" to improve relations between the two sides.
He said there were "some fences that need to be mended" after "nearly the entire British government said derogatory things about Donald Trump and his team" during the American presidential campaign.
"I would like to try to act as a little bit of a middle man to try and mend some of this, so we can get on with some really important work," Farage said.
British politicians, like many others in Europe, criticized Trump’s controversial rhetoric against immigrants and ethnic minorities, and some even used abusive language to denounce the billionaire, believing that Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton would almost certainly win the White House, not Trump.
But during his campaign when almost the entire US mainstream media and many Republicans were against Trump, he found a close friend in Farage, who traveled to America and joined him on the stage in August, encouraging the Republican nominee’s supporters to learn from the Brexit vote and overcome all odds.
Trump’s campaign had been hit with many controversies since its inception in early 2015, but he managed to stun the world by defeating the heavily-favored Democratic candidate on November 8.
Farage was the first British politician to meet with Trump after the hard-fought victory before any EU leaders.
Following his election win, Trump snubbed the British prime minister. He called 11 other world leaders before making a call to May, showing that the "special relationship" between London and Washington might not be that special under the Trump administration.
On Tuesday, by contrast, Trump expressed unprecedented support for Farage, saying on Twitter that "many people" would like to see the Brexit leader as Britain's ambassador to the US.
"Many people would like to see @Nigel_Farage represent Great Britain as their Ambassador to the United States. He would do a great job!" Trump said.
But shortly after Trump’s tweet, the May government rejected the proposal, with a spokesman saying pointedly that there is no vacancy for the job and that London appoints its own envoys.