Biden Administration Official Condemns Pink Floyd Co-founder Roger Waters and His Shows As ‘Anti-Semitic’
Written by Logan Phillips on June 7, 2023
Roger Waters, co-founder of Pink Floyd, has faced criticism for wearing a Nazi-like costume during a performance in Berlin, Germany. Now The United States State Department has joined the list of critics, accusing Waters of anti-Semitism. The department stated that Waters has a history of using anti-Semitic tropes and that his attire and imagery during the Berlin concert were offensive to Jewish people and downplayed the Holocaust.
Katharina von Schnurbein, the European Commission’s coordinator on combating anti-Semitism, and Deborah Lipstadt, the United States Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism, have previously condemned Waters for his Nazi-like uniform. Lipstadt expressed agreement with von Schnurbein’s condemnation.
I wholeheartedly concur with @EUAntisemitism’s condemnation of Roger Waters and his despicable Holocaust distortion. https://t.co/9gfdH94TZl
— Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt (@StateSEAS) May 25, 2023
In response to a question at a press briefing, the U.S. State Department affirmed Lipstadt’s criticisms. Waters, on the other hand, has denied accusations of antisemitism and stated that his performance is a statement against fascism, injustice, and bigotry. He claimed that his portrayal of an unhinged fascist political leader has been a consistent theme since Pink Floyd’s The Wall in 1980.
In an interview with Double Down News, Waters discussed how the depiction of a fascist leader in The Wall was meant to convey a character’s realization of a terrible mistake. He argued against the interpretation of his work as glorifying the Third Reich and Nazism.
Waters also urged his fans during the interview to question why there are efforts to cancel him and urging viewers to disregard mainstream media as “fake news”.
