Never mind the bollocks: Former Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten is a huge fan of Trump, and believes that Americans are endangering their country if they fail to get behind him.
In an interview with (of all people) Piers Morgan Monday on “Good Morning Britain,” Rotten (a U.S. citizen, it happens) had nothing but pleasant things to say about President Trump. He waved his anti-establishment, “working class” flag by belatedly endorsing the Brexit vote, but perhaps he went a bit too far in demanding Americans rally to their new president, lest they “destroy the country.”
Yesterday, Johnny Rotten (née John Lydon) defended Donald Trump, calling him, among other things, a “joy to behold” and a “possible friend.” The Sex Pistols frontman also said the media was “trying to smear the bloke as a racist, and that’s completely not true.” Today, in an interview with Virgin Radio, Rotten doubled down on those comments.
“I didn’t expect to be misunderstood, I think I speak very clearly,” he said, according to NME. “America now has a new President and whether you like him or not you have to support him or you will destroy the country. You got to make things work.”
This is quite odd, hilarious even, considering not only the left-wing origins of punk rock but also Rotten’s own body of work, which includes “Anarchy in the UK.” His version of “God Save the Queen” begins,
God save the queen
The fascist regime
They made you a moron
A potential H bomb.
God save the queen
She’s not a human being…”
Et cetera, et cetera. Anyway, in this light, his deferential attitude toward Trump is kind of…unexpected?
Rotten is probably right that “some” of the criticisms against Trump are “stupid and wrong,” but at the risk of flogging a dead horse, I think he goes a bit far with what sounds like a threat about America’s future. This just isn’t how things work — not here and I assume not in the U.K. either.
Americans don’t owe presidents political support or deference on questions of policy, nor are they even required by patriotism or the common good to view the president as a good or decent person. They’re right to demand investigatons, and they have a God-given right to engage even in the most tendentious and obtuse political behavior if they like. This is viewed as a positive thing, not something that puts the future of the nation at risk.
