Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic Praises Donald Trump’s Military Deployment Speech

Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic praised Donald Trump’s military deployment speech form Monday, saying that he thinks the U.S. President “knocked it out of the park.” In a since-deleted Facebook post, the former grunge band bassist noted that he’s aware many of his followers are fans of Trump but added that he still found Trump’s “tone in this speech” to be “strong and direct.”

“I have been watching the images in the media and thinking about how polarized our country is,” Novoselic went on to say— per NME — explaining that, in some cases, “wearing medical masks in public can be seen as a political statement!” He then addressed what he sees as “violence” from a “leftist insurrection” and differentiated it from the widespread protests. “Imagine if so-called ‘patriot militias’ were raising this kind of hell?” he asked. “If this were the case, left wing people would welcome federal intervention.” Novoselic then assessed that he thinks “most Americans want peace in their communities” and praised Trump for speaking “to this desire.” “and for vowing that he “would stop the violence.”

After Novoselic received quite a lot of backlash for his comments, he deleted the post and wrote a new one, clarifying his remarks. “As an avowed independent, I don’t endorse a major party or candidate,” he stated, then adding that, while “it feels insane to have to say this,” he does not “support fascism” or “an authoritarian state.” Novoselic stated that he believes “in a civilized society and that we all have to work toward that.” He then expressed his “love and thanks to anyone” who read his follow-up statement. He has since deleted his Twitter account and set his Facebook page to private.

Following his time in Nirvana, Novoselic went on to pursue aspirations of being a politician. In 2004, he considered running for Lieutenant Governor of Washington as a Democrat but eventually changed his mind. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer initially supported former President Barack Obama during his 2008 run for office, but later began supporting Libertarian politicians such as Ron Paul and Gary Johnson. When discussing why he decided to separate from the Democratic Party, Novoselic previously explained that he was because he finds the party to have “a top-down structure” that is resistant to grassroots-style reform.