Johnny Rotten: Sex Pistols star claims Trump is ‘only sensible choice’ in US election

Singer said he’d be ‘daft as a brush’ to vote for Democratic nominee Joe Biden

Annabel Nugent
Tuesday 13 October 2020 09:09 BST
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Johnny Rotten's TV rant

Sex Pistols’ frontman John Lydon has voiced his support for Donald Trump, claiming that the president is the “only sensible choice”.

The endorsement comes as a surprise given that the singer – stage name Johnny Rotten – previously announced that he had backed Democratic nominees Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton in past US elections.

Lydon told The Observer that he now supports Trump because of the president’s approach to the economy.

The London-born musician became a US citizen in 2013 and currently lives in Los Angeles.

He said: “I’d be daft as a brush not to. He’s the only sensible choice now that Biden is up – he’s incapable of being the man at the helm.”

John Lydon performs on the Avalon Stage at the Glastonbury Festival
John Lydon performs on the Avalon Stage at the Glastonbury Festival (Getty)

The paper suggests that Lydon began supporting Trump after the president was accused of racism. “I’ve been accused of the very same thing, so I’m offended for anybody who’s called that,” said Lydon. He went on to add: “Of course I’m anti-racism.”

In 2008, members of Lydon’s entourage were accused of being racially abusive during a backstage fight at a reunited Sex Pistols gig.

When asked about the murder of George Floyd, Lydon replied that it was “ghastly” but that “it doesn’t mean all police are nasty or all white folk are racist”. He summed up by saying: “Because all lives matter.”

Asked if he would definitely be voting for Trump on 3 November, Lydon produced a MAGA cap and declared: “I am.”

The 64-year-old, who has also been vocal in his support of Brexit, has previously been photographed wearing a red MAGA T-shirt.

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