John Lydon Supports Donald Trump, Nigel Farage, Brexit

Ian Gavan/Getty Images

John Lydon Supports Donald Trump, Nigel Farage, Brexit

Ian Gavan/Getty Images

John Lydon, the frontman of both the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd., once famously snarled that he wants to destroy the passerby. And now he’s apparently found common ground with a group of politicians who seem to sincerely feel the same way. As Politico reports, the former Johnny Rotten, in a TV news interview earlier this morning in the UK, came out in support of Donald Trump, as well as of British rightwing nutjob Nigel Farage and his Brexit campaign.

Talking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Lydon said, “The working class have spoken and I’m one of them and I’m with them.” Speaking of Farage’s floating confrontation with Lydon’s fellow old-time punk Bob Geldof last year, Lydon said, “I wanted to shake [Farage’s] hand because it was silly beyond belief.”

Meanwhile, of Trump, Lydon said, “One journalist once said to me, ‘Is he the political Sex Pistol?’ In a way.” He went on:

There are many, many problems with him as a human being but he’s not that [racist] and there just might be a chance something good will come out of that situation because he terrifies politicians… This is a joy to behold for me. Dare I say, [Trump could be] a possible friend.

Oddly, Lydon had some very different things to say when The New York Times’ Dave Itzkoff interviewed him a few days ago:

So yeah, he is presumably just trolling, something he has done for decades. Fuck this and fuck that. Fuck it all and fuck the fucking brat.

UPDATE: The following day Lydon expanded on his comments to Virgin Radio, as NME points out:

“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. … The attitudes that are being pulled on him are stupid and wrong. He’s got some serious money issues and business concerns that deeply fascinate all of us but to be smearing him as a racist, this isn’t right, there’s no evidence or proof to that and until there is, I’ll stand up and say that I think that’s wrong.”

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