Winston Marshall, the banjoist and guitarist for the rock band Mumford & Sons, is receiving intense criticism after congratulating controversial conservative journalist Andy Ngo for his new book on the far-left anti-fascism movement known as antifa.
On Saturday, Marshall logged on to Twitter to share a photo of Ngo’s book, Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy. The cover of the book features an endorsement by Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson.
Ngo, an antifa critic who has been described as a right-wing and provocative agitator, rose to fame in 2019 after being attacked at a Proud Boys rally; Ngo said a milkshake thrown at him by Antifa activists was full of concrete.
“Congratulations, @MrAndyNgo,” said Marshall in his tweet, which he deleted on Sunday afternoon. “I finally had time to read your important book. You are a brave man. “
In response to Marshall’s tweet, he and his bandmates received reactions, including from fellow English musicians Sleaford Mods, who tweeted, “The fact that this Mumford t ** openly shows his support for oppression / fascism / interests of greed is almost normal now. He inhabits the same landscape as most large gangs. There will be environments that offer free service to conscious people. Sucks. “
mumford and sons are the owners of rock n roll
– hyper-relevization (@ Eve6) March 7, 2021
An astonishing endorsement of fascism. Shame, I really liked that song a while ago.
– Dr. Meenal Viz (@meenalsworld) March 7, 2021
This is very disappointing and really reinforces all the bad stereotypes about what it means when you hear “the sound of banjos”. Supporting fascism is not a good look.
– Ashton Pittman (@ashtonpittman) March 6, 2021
Although Marshall did not elaborate on whether his political views are in line with Ngo’s, this is not the first time the band has been summoned. In 2018, Marshall and his bandmates received criticism when they posed for a photo in a music studio alongside Canadian professor and YouTube personality Jordan Peterson, previously reported by NME. Peterson is known to speak out against causes ranging from “warriors of social justice” and women’s rights to people who choose their own pronouns.
“I don’t recognize someone else’s right to determine which pronouns I use to refer to them,” he said Toronto Life in 2017. “I think they are connected to a clandestine apparatus of left-wing political motivations.”
None of the other members of Mumford & Sons gave an opinion on Marshall’s statements. Marshall and his wife, Happiness actress Dianna Agron, separated in 2019. Marshall’s bandmate Marcus Mumford is married to Promising young woman star Carey Mulligan.
This article has been updated to reflect that Marshall deleted his tweet.
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