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Rod Stewart has sharply criticized US President Donald Trump after he made derogatory comments about NATO troops and their deployment in Afghanistan. The singer expressly described Trump as a “conscientious objector”.
In a Fox News interview earlier this week, Trump again attacked the US’s NATO allies and downplayed their contribution to the so-called war on terror.
“We never needed them. We never actually asked them for anything,” Trump said of NATO. “Then they say they sent troops to Afghanistan or this or that. And they did. They stayed a little behind, a little away from the front lines.”
Trump’s statements have met with sharp criticism in Europe
Trump’s comments sparked outrage among European politicians – as well as his former friend and neighbor Sir Rod Stewart. “I may be just a humble rock star, but I am also a knight of the kingdom and I have my opinions,” Stewart said in a video statement posted on social media.
“I was born shortly after [Zweiten Weltkrieg] “It hurts me deeply to read conscientious objector Trump criticizing our troops in Afghanistan for not being on the front lines.”
Rod Stewart remembers fallen British soldiers
“We lost over 400 of our men,” Stewart said. “Think about their parents, think about Trump calling them almost like cowards. That’s unbearable.” A total of 457 British soldiers died during the decades-long operation in Afghanistan.
Stewart then addressed British politicians directly: “I am calling on you, Prime Minister [Keir] Starmer, and [den britischen Politiker und Trump-Unterstützer Nigel] Farage: Please make conscientious objector Trump apologize. Please!”
Starmer speaks of offensive and shocking statements
Nigel Farage did not demand an apology, but publicly contradicted Trump on social media. “Donald Trump is wrong. For twenty years our armed forces fought courageously alongside America in Afghanistan,” Farage wrote.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer was much harsher: “I will never forget their courage, their bravery and the sacrifices they made for their country. Many were also injured, some with life-changing injuries. I find President Trump’s statements insulting and frankly upsetting, and I am not surprised that they have caused so much pain among the families of those killed and injured – and across the country.”
