NIGEL FARAGE has compared the Black Lives Matter movement to the Taliban during a furious row on Good Morning Britain.
The Brexit Pary leader joined Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid spoke to discuss the toppling of a statue of 17th century slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol.
Mr. Farage was joined by historian Professor Kate Williams along with lawyer and activist Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu for a discussion on whether similarly controversial statues should be removed.
Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu welcomed the toppling of the Colston statue by protestors as part of last weekend’s Black Lives Matter demonstrations, say it “represented the symbolic breaking of chains, the racism chain.”
"This was a long time coming, the United Kingdom is institutionally racist, no monument or statues immortalising British imperialism is more important than a single black British life,” she said.
"No desecration of a monument is as violent or as devastating as the desecration of black lives.
"Properties can be replaced, human lives can't."
However, Mr. Farage condemned their actions as “undemocratic” while comparing the Black Lives Matter movement to the Taliban.
"I understand why they did it, but don't forget those same people have been destroying historical monuments in Syria that are thousands of years old," he said.
Demonstrates were held throughout Ireland in support of the Black Lives Matter movement with protests held in Dublin over three days with similar events also held over in Belfast in Northern Ireland.
Describing the actions of the protestors as “mob rule”, the Brexit Party leader defender also went on to defend Colston for his work in Bristol as a “philanthropist”.
.@SholaMos1, @Nigel_Farage and @KateWilliamsme engage in a heated debate about whether controversial statues be removed following the toppling of Edward Colston's statue.@piersmorgan | @susannareid100 | #GMB
Watch GMB on ITV and The ITV Hub 👉 https://t.co/yyUUJmzswF pic.twitter.com/MgDyzEK0Wh— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 9, 2020
His remarks drew derision from his fellow panelists with Professor Williams quick to note that both Jimmy Saville and Jeffrey Epstein were philanthropists too.
At one point, Mr. Farage had to be muted from the debate amid concerns he was failing to let anyone else have their say on the topic.
When he returned to the conversation, the former UKIP leader described the Black Lives Matter movement a "Marxist organisation" which existed with the sole aim of defunding the police.
Mr. Farage’s comments drew widespread criticism from both the panel and Good Morning Britain presenters Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan.
Morgan branded the Brexit advocate’s Taliban’s comparison as “incendiary” while Reid rejected the parallel completely.
Piers agreed it was "incendiary" to compare the movement to the Taliban, while Susanna told Nigel he could not make that comparison.
Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, meanwhile, told viewers: "Nigel Farage is a racist” while Professor Williams accused him of “inciting racism”.
