BBC presenter Laura Kuenssberg was shut down by Nigel Farage as she asked him about his money.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage brutally shut down Laura Kuenssberg as BBC viewers were left raging at her “poor” interviewing skills on the show. Kuenssberg aired a pre-recorded interview with Farage as she asked him about his immigration policies, as well as his plans for government. But one moment which seemed to irritate the politician was when she asked him about a house his partner bought in his constituency Clacton.
Kuenssberg asked: “You said this week that if you want to be Housing minister, you can’t get away with not paying £40,000 in tax. You want to be Prime Minister, and your own tax and business affairs aren’t exactly straight forward.”
A furious Farage responded: “I’m very sorry, I take objection to the very premise of that question.”
A stuttering Kuenssberg said: “Well, I’m just going to ask you about it because I know you said you want to be transparent and open. Your constituency home where you stay in Clacton is owned by your partner, I believe…” as a stony-faced Farage asked: “So?”
She continued: “You have a separate company for your earnings outside of being an MP…”
Farage jumped in: “Number one, those are two separate questions. The first, she’s bought a house, why not?”
I’m not suggesting there is anything improper, my question is that you and other MPs have affairs where there is a lot of money swilling around, and they are not very like the financial arrangements of most people… do you think you can relate to people watching this?
Farage replied: “I have been for 30 years, in my own way, been an entrepreneur, I have directly employed people, I have a company that does a variety of things, media income is just one of them. Do we want people in politics who have paid lots of tax and created lots of jobs or not?”
Viewers took to social media to comment on the interview, as one said: “It’s clear @BBCLauraK dislikes and disapproves of @Nigel_Farage. Irrespective of that, on #BBCLauraK today, he wiped the floor with her.”
Another added: “A little bit of resistance from #Farage and @bbclaurak backs down on the tricky questions about his questionable tax and property affairs. Not good enough.”
A third chimed in: “Farage getting his belly tickled again by #bbclaurak. Not a single question from about why he is such a ‘patriot’ that he’s begging a foreign country to interfere with British politics.”
A fourth said: “Giving Nigel Farage a easy time again! Probably gave him a foot massage after the job interview.”
