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As violent riots grip France, British political leader Nigel Farage warned Americans against repeating what he described as Europe’s mass immigration failures, arguing that years of unchecked migration have transformed European cities and fueled unrest that could eventually spread elsewhere.
“People like me who were warning about this years ago have sadly been proven right, but the problems are gonna be here for a very, very long time,” Farage told Fox News Digital in an interview. “Please, please don’t make the same level of mistakes that we have,” he said in his message to Americans.
Violent riots have erupted across parts of Europe in recent weeks, particularly in France, with Farage pointing to years of mass migration and failed political leadership as key factors fueling the unrest. The Reform UK leader singled out Emmanuel Macron, arguing that the French president should have mobilized the military to confront the violence, after education protests spiraled into riots, destruction and theft.
MACRON JETS OUT OF RIOT-TORN FRANCE FOR GULF TRIP AS POLITICAL PRESSURE MOUNTS
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaks during a press conference in Westminster, United Kingdom on June 10, 2025. (Thomas Krych/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“Macron was asleep at the wheel, and it isn’t just that he was at a concert,” Farage said. “And whilst the French do have effective police forces, the scale of the uprising, I mean the mass looting, the mass looting and violence that took place in Paris was genuinely horrendous.”
“Meloni’s reaction was swifter and a better sign of leadership,” Farage said, referring to the Italian leader deploying 500 military troops to Milan in response to recent riots. “But the problem is, for people like Macron, who have always said, any criticism of immigration, whether legal or illegal, makes you racist, they psychologically find it hard to face up to their own failures of policy.”
Farage warned that the unrest he described in France and elsewhere in Europe could eventually erupt in Britain, pointing to demonstrations in London and questioning whether British leaders would respond more forcefully than Macron.
ITALY UNLEASHES MILITARY RESPONSE TO VIOLENT RIOTS AS FRANCE FACES A RECKONING OF ITS OWN
A car is set ablaze during demonstrations on Oct. 17, 2026 in Paris, France. (Carl Court/Getty Images)
“You know, my real worry is they can happen in this country too,” Farage said. “We’ve got the same hard left here. We’ve the same hate mobs that march, chanting in the streets of London, from the river to the sea.”
“I’m concerned that these things could happen here. And I wonder whether a British Prime Minister has got any more courage than President Macron in France,” he added.
Farage contrasted Europe’s failure to control its borders with President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in the United States.
TRUMP, WALTZ LINK FRANCE RIOTS TO MASS IMMIGRATION AS THOUSANDS ARE ARRESTED
Thousands of protesters march during a demonstration in Paris on Oct. 17, 2026. (Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt / AFP via Getty Images)
“Look, whatever you think of President Trump’s current policies, one thing he has done, and he promised he’d do. He’s closed the southern border,” Farage said.
Trump vowed Tuesday to treat potential rioters in the U.S. “very rough,” pointing to the unrest in France,” he said at a rally in Greenville, North Carolina before being interrupted by a protestor in the crowd.
“They’re crazy, these people. Look at that guy. He’s a nutjob,” Trump said, in reference to the protester.
He warned that he would crack down on potential threats, saying he would not allow similar unrest to take hold in the U.S.
FRANCE COULD FACE EVEN WORSE DESTRUCTION WITH SECOND WEEKEND OF PLANNED RIOTS, STATE DEPT WARNS
Protesters carrying a banner wave an antifascist flag and a Palestinian flag during a high school students’ demonstration in Paris on October 13, 2026, as part of a nationwide high school mobilisation. France sees nationwide demonstrations on October 13 in support of students protesting poor classroom conditions for weeks, as authorities and participants remain wary of further violence. (Lou Benoist/AFP via Getty Images)
“That’s what you witness over the last three or four days. You watch nutjobs like him in France ruining their country,” Trump said. “We’re not going to put up with it by the way.”
“If a possible threat, which could happen, I hope you won’t get angry if I treat them very, very rough, because that’s what’s going to happen. They’re not going to destroy our country,” he said.
On Tuesday, British counterterrorism police rearrested two men suspected of assisting Iranian intelligence in an alleged plot targeting RAF Fairford, a U.K. base used by U.S. bombers.
Authorities say Iranian state involvement is “highly likely,” though no charges have been filed.
FOILED TERROR PLOT AT BOMBER BASE SIGNALS WIDER THREAT TO US MILITARY INSTALLATIONS: EXPERT
Demonstrators occupy the sculptures and ledges of the Monument a la Republique, some raising their arms while others display French and Palestinian flags, as smoke drifts around the monument at Place de la Republique in Paris, France, on October 17, 2026. The gathering follows several weeks of protests and blockades in French high schools and universities, where students have denounced staff shortages, insufficient funding and deteriorating conditions in public education. (Photo by Aruallan / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images) (Getty Images )
Farage said he has foreshadowed such criminal acts, alleging that Iran has exploited illegal crossings of the English Channel to move operatives into Britain.
“I’ve called again and again for this to be declared a national security emergency. I have been ignored. If the Americans removing their bombers from RAF Fairford isn’t enough warning. I don’t know what is,” he said.
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“We’ve just become so caught up over here in Europe and Britain with this human rights culture, which puts the interests, frankly, of the bad guys above the interests of the majority.”