Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan weighed in on the 2016 presidential race at a Q&A before a recent concert in Cincinnati, saying that while he may not necessarily agree with Republican frontrunner Donald Trump’s policy positions, it’s “cool” that he is in the race.
“It’s like the music business: everybody gets controlled, and somebody comes along that f***s it all up,” Corgan explained. “I think it’s good that he’s f***ing it up, because whether or not he’s the guy, obviously the political class doesn’t want him there. It’ll open it up to a bigger dialogue.”
The singer/songwriter offered up the comments after he was asked whether he watched the first Republican presidential debate last month.
“Whether anybody agrees or not, the rating on that debate was 24 million [viewers],” Corgan said. “It was eight times higher than the first Republican debate of the last cycle. It was the highest non-sports related cable rating of all time. That means people are engaged.”
“I would argue, at this point, is there any difference between politics and entertainment?” he added.
Corgan has previously been an outspoken critic of the Obama administration, telling InfoWars in 2012 that they go “out of their way to stifle debate.”
But the singer said he doesn’t “lean one side or the other.”
“I’ve got people in my family who are total right-wing Republicans and some of them are probably even racist, but they at least have a particular opinion that they are coming from that is rooted in their own belief system,” Corgan said at the time.
“It’s very weird to me that the left has become the old right. I certainly can’t identify with that left anymore, because I see that now as the party of be quiet and get in line.”
Check out Corgan’s Q&A interview above.
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