Nigel Farage is set to lose thousands of pounds after he claimed to have placed a £10,000 bet on Donald Trump winning the US presidential election.
On Saturday former Vice President Joe Biden was declared the winner of the election after the state of Pennsylvania was called for the Democratic candidate, with Biden becoming only the fifth candidate to defeat an incumbent president in the last century.
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In a tweet on Tuesday night, Farage had posted a photo of himself in Washington DC holding a sign that read, “Donald Trump to win US election, £10,000, @ 15/8.” His caption said: “The first polls are closing and I am absolutely optimistic.”
A spokesperson for the betting firm Farage said he placed the bet with confirmed to VICE News that it was a real bet, and that he was set to make around £28,000 if Trump had actually won.
“He placed the 10k bet at 15/8, was set to make ~28k if won (all GBP),” the spokesperson said.
Farage, the former leader of UKIP, has been a vocal and highly visible Trump supporter for years. Last week, he spoke to a large crowd of supporters at a Trump rally in Arizona after he was called on stage by the President.
“This is the single most resilient and bravest person I have ever met in my life,” said Farage. “He beat the pollsters, he beat the media, he beat all the predictions, and here’s the worst bit, they’ve never forgiven him for it.”
Trump meanwhile described Farage as “the King of Europe,” and, “one of the most powerful men in Europe.”
Farage is a former MEP who has failed on seven separate occasions to be elected as a UK MP. He left radio station LBC, where he had a regular show, in June, and last month launched a new financial newsletter advising people to buy precious metals.
