The independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin has linked Brexit and the rise of Donald Trump, saying such events are a “reflection of a nativist movement across Europe and in the United States” that is “destructive to [the] economy here and in the world and to peace and security”.
The 40-year-old former CIA agent and Capitol Hill policy adviser accused Russia of fueling such sentiments – a phenomenon he said he understood because when working for the US intelligence service he “received the same training that Vladimir Putin did” while in the KGB.
“They do it through supporting candidates like Donald Trump and Donald Trump poses a true threat to our national security by carrying Putin’s water in the United States,” he said.
McMullin is running as an independent conservative alternative to Trump, backed by some of the Republican nominee’s most determined rightwing opponents. Speaking to the Guardian, he discussed his longshot bid for the White House and his disdain for those on the right who have failed to stand up to Trump, who is now closing in on Hillary Clinton in presidential polling.
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