John Swinney urges American voters to back Kamala Harris over Donald Trump in presidential election
by Chris McCall, https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/authors/chris-mccall/ · Daily RecordGet the latest Daily Record breaking news on WhatsApp
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John Swinney has urged American voters to support Kamala Harris instead of Donald Trump at next week's US presidential election.
And the First Minister quipped his support for the Democratic candidate was not because her Republican opponent was opposed to Scottish independence.
Speaking to reporters in the Scottish Parliament today, Swinney was asked who he was backing to replace Joe Biden as the leader of the world's most powerful democracy.
The SNP leader said: "People in the United States of America should vote for Kamala Harris, and I've not come to that conclusion only because Donald Trump is opposed to Scottish independence."
It comes after Trump - whose later mother Mary was born on the Isle of Lewis - shared his view that Scotland should remain part of the UK.
Speaking with comedian Andrew Schulz on his Flagrant show, Trump discussed his Scottish mother and the Braveheart film.
He then referred to the 2014 referendum: “You know, they tried to break up Scotland from the rest of the empire, so to speak. And it made it by about like a half a point. They kept it together. So I hope it stays together. I hope it always stays together.”
Trump has extensive business interests in Scotland through his two golf courses. But he fell out with former First Minister Alex Salmond before he entered politics over the prospect of offshore wind farms near one of the courses in Aberdeenshire.
The New Yorker is in a tight race with Vice-President Kamala Harris for the presidency. Polls show the pair are almost even in the seven battleground states that will determine the result.
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