Nigel Farage tricked into ‘supporting IRA’ as he falls for birthday video prank
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Nigel Farage has said that he was tricked into offering his support to the IRA by a birthday prankster.
The former UKIP leader was caught out on video-sharing platform Cameo, where people can request personalised video messages from celebrities in exchange for money.
Farage has 4,000 fans on the site who can pay £73 to have him read a script of their choice.
One person seized this opportunity to pull one over on Farage.
In a post on Facebook, Brian O Ceileachair shared the video with the caption: "Quite possibly the best birthday present I've ever gotten, courtesy of Aiden Hart and my mate Nigel Farage."
In the clip Farage addresses the camera directly, wishing "brexiteer" Brian a happy birthday before explaining that he can't drink a beer because it's too early for him.
He then hopes that Brian "enjoys a few pints with the lads tonight", before toasting with a coffee mug and declaring "up the RA".
"Up the RA" is a common Irish republican phrase expressing support for the IRA or PIRA (with the two acronyms shorted to "RA").
Farage has since claimed that he was pranked and had no idea what the phrase meant.
He told the Belfast Telegraph: "I do a large number of Cameo messages and always reject those that are unsuitable, but the odd one can slip through the net.
"It did not occur to me that this particular request was a hoax and any suggestion to the contrary is absurd."
Daniel Jukes, his press aide, has also pleaded ignorance on his boss' behalf. He said: "I imagine he probably didn’t [understand it], otherwise he wouldn’t have said something like that, would he?"
The clip has since been posted on Twitter and viewed over 300,000 times, with people sharing their thoughts.
One user joked: "I swear to God, that’s near killed me. Was having a cuppa and tea came down my nose."
"The IRA would probably say ‘Up Farage!’, because he’s done more harm to the UK than they managed," added another.
Some also noted how they weren't too convinced by Farage's explanation for the clip.
"Done like a kipper, but he has to know what he's saying there," said one user.
"He knew what he was doing, but as always he’d do or say anything for a few quid," chimed another.
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- Nigel Farage
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