Johnny Rotten famously sang “God Save The Queen” back in the heyday of punk in the late 1970s, but in 2020, he’s singing “God Save The President.”
In keeping with the crazy times of this year, even the singer of “Pretty Vacant” is weighing in on the presidential election.
Rotten, whose real name is John Lydon, holds three citizenships — U.S., British and Irish. And he told the BBC he’s “definitely” voting for President Trump in the Nov. 3 election.
“Yes, of course, I’m voting for Trump,” Lydon said in the interview. “He’s an individual thinker, I’ll give him that for a start. He’s not the most lovable fellow on God’s earth, but I cannot see the opposition as offering me anything by way of a solution.”
The singer, who later headed up Public Image Ltd., added that Trump “really is making the country a bit better.”
Lydon, 64, backed Barack Obama in his two elections and Hillary Clinton in 2016. But he said he supports Trump because of the economy.
“I’d be daft as a brush not to,” Lydon said, according to The Guardian. “He’s the only sensible choice now that Biden is up – he’s incapable of being the man at the helm.”
Lydon appears to have started supporting Trump when 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.” In 2008, Kele Okereke, of Bloc Party, said that members of Lydon’s entourage were racially abusive during a backstage fight at a reunited Sex Pistols festival appearance.
Lydon’s stance isn’t that unexpected. Back in 2018, the singer was photographed wearing a “Make America Great Again” T-shirt.
In the Guardian interview, Lydon also the death of George Floyd, a black man who died on Memorial Day while in the custody of Minneapolis police. “There’s not anyone I know anywhere that wouldn’t say that wasn’t ghastly,” he said. “Absolutely! It doesn’t mean all police are nasty or all white folk are racist. Because all lives matter.”
“Of course I’m anti-racism,” he added.
Lydon co-wrote the punk anthem “God Save the Queen.” And in the interview, he also mused about the royal family, which has been in turmoil of late, with Prince Andrew caught up in the pedophile scandal surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle leaving Britain for the United States.
“My feeling about the royal family is one of sorrow. I’ve always felt they’re poor little birdies trapped in cages, gold cages, but they’re still entombed.” The interviewer then asked about Markle. “Dreadful person. Very bad actress. But she’s in a masterclass now.”
Lydon also said he doesn’t think Markle has suffered racism. “Stop being self-righteous and smug, that’s what she needs to do. She’s hopping on a cause. There are valid cases out there, genuine people who need help.”