Mumford & Sons guitarist Winston Marshall has revealed that he is quitting the band after receiving a deluge of abuse from the cancel mob for tweeting a compliment to journalist Andy Ngo. The guitarist said his bandmates were also targeted even though they weren’t involved with the tweet.
Winston Marshall wrote in a Medium post Thursday that he was called a “fascist” and was inaccurately categorized as “far-right” for praising Ngo on his book Unmasked, which details the inner workings of Antifa, the violent left-wing activist group.
“To call me ‘fascist’ was ludicrous beyond belief,” he wrote.
“I’ve had plenty of abuse over the years. I’m a banjo player after all. But this was another level. And, owing to our association, my friends, my bandmates, were getting it too. It took me more than a moment to understand how distressing this was for them.”
Marshall said leaving the band will enable him to “speak my mind” without inflicting more pain on his bandmates.
“The only way forward for me is to leave the band. I hope in distancing myself from them I am able to speak my mind without them suffering the consequences,” he wrote.
As Breitbart News reported, Marshall tweeted praise to Andy Ngo in March.
“Congratulations @MrAndyNgo. Finally had the time to read your important book. You’re a brave man,” tweeted Marshall, alongside an image of Ngo’s new book. (The tweet has since been deleted.)
In his Medium post, Marshall praised his bandmates for sticking with him.
“Emotions were high. Despite pressure to nix me they invited me to continue with the band. That took courage, particularly in the age of so called ‘cancel culture.’ I made an apology and agreed to take a temporary step back,” he said.
Marshall said his apology provoked another angry social media mob to criticize him for caving to the left.
The musician said he isn’t conservative but added there’s nothing wrong with being on the political right.
“Though there’s nothing wrong with being conservative, when forced to politically label myself I flutter between ‘centrist,’ ‘liberal’ or the more honest ‘bit this, bit that.’ Being labeled erroneously just goes to show how binary political discourse has become. I had criticised the ‘Left,’ so I must be the ‘Right,’ or so their logic goes.”
Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at dng@breitbart.com
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