Brian May “shocked” that 70 million Americans voted for Trump
“It’s almost impossible to understand that.”
Images: Kevin Mazur / Samuel Corum / Getty
Queen guitarist Brian May has spoken out against Donald Trump, expressing his shock at the number of votes Donald Trump received in the recent election.
Speaking in a video posted to his YouTube Channel, May said: “To us over here [in the UK], almost to a man, we were shocked that almost half of America could look at what Donald Trump has done over the last four years, and like it, and actually want more of it. I mean, to us, it’s almost impossible to understand that.”
He went on to acknowledge his own bias, saying: “It seemed, from the way it was painted and the media that we tune in to, that the man constantly lied and bullied and cheated and made a complete disgrace of himself. But still, 70 million people went, ‘Okay, he’s a good man.’”
He ascribed this discrepancy to the targeted way news can be packaged and delivered. “The conclusion that I’ve come to is that we must be given different sets of facts according to where we reside and what information we tune in to. Now, this has been already suggested in this very interesting film called Social Dilemma. The theory is that once we express an opinion, we are fed the information that we want to hear and so we get more and more polarised.”
May offered his own opinion on how to lessen this political division, stating his idea to set up “a board of I don’t how many people – 20 people – and they go on a mission. And the mission is to find out the truth, to evaluate all these claims that are made both for and against Mr Trump and Mr Biden and find out what the truth actually is,” suggested the Queen rocker. “I wonder if that would make a difference. I wonder if it would start to heal the gulf, the dreadful split which is paralyzing America.”
You can watch May’s video in full below.
May is the latest high-profile musician to speak out against the president, and note the deeply divided nature of American politics. Last week, the guitar world reacted to Biden’s projected victory – mostly in celebration.