Nigel Farage has admitted his "shock" at the state of the Reform party when he took over as leader last month.
In an interview with GB News' Christopher Hope, he appeared to criticise former party leader Richard Tice, saying the party was a "shambles".
Farage told GB News he "didn't quite know what I was inheriting a month ago".
This comes after the defection of two Reform candidates. Georgie David, who quit the party yesterday, said the "vast majority" of her fellow candidates are "racist, misogynistic and bigoted".
Nigel Farage has admitted his "shock" at the state of the Reform party when he took over as leader last month
PA
Two days earlier, Liam Booth-Isherwood, who is standing as a candidate in Erewash, also defected from Reform to the Tories.
Speaking to GB News, Farage added: "I've been honorary president, I've had nothing to do with the running of this for three years - you'd never believe me but that is the truth.
"I've been a bit shocked at just how relatively amateur and startup the whole thing was. It's not a criticism, Richard Tice kept it going - he put a million quid of his own money, loans yeah, but into keeping it going. And yeah, it was a bit of a shambles.
"So have we got some bad apples? Yes. Is it reflective of the broader party - no. And on this ludicrous racism charge, well you can see Zia Yusuf is our biggest donor so far in the campaign. We've got plenty of candidates from all sorts of backgrounds."
He added: "If I'd known what I was inheriting a month ago... I would still have done it".
Pressed on whether he would have become leader or not had he known the full situation, the Reform UK leader appeared to hesitate.
He then responded: "It annoys me greatly, but I can see what happened. They literally put out a Charlie Charlie call. 'Anyone that wants to stand please come and stand'."
An undercover Channel 4 investigation saw Reform UK activists filmed by an undercover journalist. Footage showed canvasser Andrew Parker using a racial slur about Rishi Sunak.
Parker also suggested migrants arriving in the UK on small boats should be used as “target practice”.
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Essex Police today confirmed that no criminal offences were committed by the activists.
But Farage said: "The Essex Police can say that but Ofcom needs to do their job."
The Reform UK leader claimed he was the victim of a stitch-up because Parker is an actor.
But Parker insisted he was there as a Reform activist and Channel 4 said he was “not known” to the broadcaster before being “filmed covertly via the undercover operation”.
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