Roger Waters criticizes “war criminal” Biden, defends China and Russia

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Roger Waters was trending Monday morning after the Pink Floyd frontman branded US President Joe Biden a “war criminal” and defended the Chinese government by telling CNN’s Michael Smerconish they “didn’t invade Iraq and didn’t have any.” million people killed”.

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Waters, who is currently touring across North America on his This Is Not a Drill tour, sat down with the TV host to discuss politics and was asked why he used an image of Biden with the words during his concert : “War Criminals – First Steps Only”, during the show.

“President Biden? First of all, he’s stoking the fire in Ukraine — that’s a big crime,” Waters replied. “It’s a big crime. Why won’t the United States (Volodymyr) encourage Zelenskyy to negotiate to avoid the need for this terrible, terrible war?”

When Smerconish said Waters appeared to blame Ukraine for the invasion, the 78-year-old musician fired back.

“Well, any war, when did it start? What you have to do is look at history and you can say, “Well, it started that day.” You could say it started in 2008… This war is basically about the action and reaction of NATO going all the way to the Russian border, which it promised not to do when (Mikhail) Gorbachev ordered the USSR’s withdrawal from the whole Russia negotiated Eastern Europe.”

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Smerconish and Waters also fell out over China’s new military drills around Taiwan in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the self-governing island.

“They don’t orbit Taiwan,” criticized Waters, “Taiwan is part of China! And that has been accepted by the entire international community since 1948 – if you don’t know that, you don’t read enough.”

Smerconish fired back, saying that China was “top of the list” for human rights abuses, prompting Waters to reply, “The Chinese didn’t invade Iraq and didn’t kill a million people in 2003… who raided the Chinese?”

“Your own,” interjected Smerconish, referring to the persecution of the Uyghurs.

“Bullshit,” Waters replied, “absolute nonsense…you should go away and read some more and try to figure out what the US would do if the Chinese sent nuclear missiles to Mexico and Canada.”

Waters also praised Russia for defending the world against Hilter’s “Nazi threat” during World War II.

“You got into World War II because of Pearl Harbor. They were absolute isolationists,” argued Waters. “Thank God the Russians had already won the bloody war by that point. 23 million Russians died to protect you and me from the Nazi threat.”

Waters’ tirade divided social media, with some praising the legendary rocker for not shying away from controversial issues.

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Actor Jesse Metcalfe said Waters “lost my knowledge!” while another fan remarked, “Waters has been consistent his entire life. He opposes warlike US imperialism, by far the most destructive force on the planet. That’s absolutely normal, that’s healthy. The only people who aren’t are those who are deeply affected by the relentless corporate media propaganda.”

But Piers Morgan called the bassist, who has been accused of anti-Israel rhetoric in the past, “the dumbest rock star in history”.

Waters seems to know his comments are dividing fans of his music, but he’s unmoved. During the This Is Not a Drill tour, the show comes with a stern warning before the music begins. “If you’re one of those guys who says, ‘I love Pink Floyd, but I can’t stand Roger’s politics,’ you might do well to go to the bar right now.”

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“That’s a really good way to start the show,” Waters quipped.

Last month, the musician caused controversy when he declared he was “more important” than Toronto music stars The Weeknd and Drake.

When he learned that there wasn’t much media interest in his two Toronto shows because his concerts fell on the same night as The Weeknd’s scheduled performance at the Rogers Centre, he said The Globe and the Mail: “I have no idea what or who The Weeknd is because I don’t listen to much music.”

Waters then lashed out at Drake, saying: “And by the way, with all due respect to The Weeknd or Drake or any of them. I am way, way, way more important than any of them will ever be, no matter how many billion streams they have. Things happen here that are fundamental to all of our lives.”

On social media, Waters has been touted as an aloof “old man screaming at the clouds,” with one Twitter user calling him a “selfish, privileged white boomer.”

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