In recent years Morrissey, always a brusque and controversial presence, has veered hard into far-right ideology, alienating many of his ardent fans in the process. Lately he has been vocal about his support for the anti-Muslim group For Britain, wearing a pin with the organization’s logo on The Tonight Show and defending it with statements like, “Everyone ultimately prefers their own race.” This has drawn criticism from the likes of Billy Bragg and forced Paul Banks to defend Interpol’s decision to tour with Moz.

None of this appears to have registered with Brandon Flowers. The Killers frontman sat down with NME before his band’s Glastonbury set, where Morrissey’s former Smiths bandmate Johnny Marr made a guest appearance. During the interview, Flowers (pictured above beckoning controversy) began rattling off his list of “kings,” which he says are about 15 in number. “Liam [Gallagher] is one of them,” Flowers explained, continuing, “Don Henley, Peter Gabriel, Morrissey would be a king, Bono would be a king, Springsteen would be a king.”

At this point the interviewer brought up Morrissey’s deplorable politics, to which Flowers replied, “He’s still a king. He’s unparalleled in what he’s achieved and his prowess and his lyrics and his sense of melody, it’s just incredible. I forgot he was in hot water though, so I shouldn’t have brought him up.”

Alas, you did, Brandon! Although it’s true that Morrissey’s contributions to music history remain significant, given his enthusiastic affiliation with an extremist racist group, this is maybe not the best time to be touting him as a “king.” The endorsement has not escaped the attention of Morrissey’s camp; his official Twitter account shared the interview this afternoon.