Music

Ariel Pink Defends ‘Peacefully Showing Support’ For Trump At Washington Capitol Storming

The indie darling is alt-right.

by Jared Richards  8 January 2021
Ariel Pink has defended attenting the alt-right storming of the US Capitol

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Ariel Pink has defended appearing at yesterday’s pro-Trump attempted ‘revolution’, saying he travelled to Washington, D.C. “to peacefully show my support for the president” and did not participate in the storming of the Capitol.

Pink, a prolific musician best known for his 2010 album Before Today and single ‘Round And Round’, was at the event alongside fellow musician John Maus and documentarian Alex Lee Moyer, for whom they both previously collaborated with for the score of tfw no gf, her documentary on incel culture, 4Chan and Twitter.

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Moyer posted a picture of the three of them in a hotel room post pro-Trump storming of the Capitol building, captioning it with “the day we almost died but instead had a great time”. They were also seen outside the Capitol in video footage Moyer posted to her Instagram.

When asked about it on Twitter, Pink said he didn’t have any qualms about attending the ‘rally’, which was in support of Trump’s completely false claim the election was rigged, but as he didn’t support any ‘violent confrontation or rioting’, didn’t participate in the storming of the Capitol, which resulted in the deaths of four people.

He said this was precisely why he didn’t support the BLM movement, either. On New Year’s Eve, he had previously tweeted “vote for Trump”.

Maus has barely commented, instead posting a link to a speech given at the Vatican in 1937, seemingly linking the idolisation of Trump to that of Hitler. He has not responded to requests for comment for various media outlets.

Talking to Pitchfork, Moyer said she met the musicians in Washington for an ‘unrelated project’ (which contradicts Pink claiming he travelled there for the protest), but felt ‘obligated’ to head out and film.

Pink has previously faced criticism for a litany of offensive remarks over the past decade, and in 2017, was accused of engaging in ‘gross’ on-stage behaviour where he pinned down his bandmate and then-girlfriend in front of the audience.

Maus has also defended his involvement making music for an Adult Swim show which was cancelled after its show creator was uncovered expressing Neo-Nazi beliefs, with Maus saying ‘the guys I met were nice’.

Pink has two albums scheduled for release later this month. His new fanbase will definitely love his experimental low-fi indie rock.

In other ‘musician and coup’ news, Jamiroquai’s Jay Kay confirmed that he wasn’t present, after a dopplegänger present in viking gear went viral.