Sex Pistol Slams "Maga Punks": Why They've Got It Wrong

Packham said concerns about “the rise of the far right at the time … had made me want to stand up and change the world” and become a teenage punk. “The first protest I ever went to was Rock Against Racism in 1978, we were tired of the racist attitudes and all of the homophobia and misogyny and wanted to make the world a better place and have been trying hard ever since to do so,” Packham said. One of the most prominent Trump-supporting punks is the most famous punk musician of all — the Sex Pistols’ former singer John Lydon, whose stage name was Johnny Rotten. Lydon, who now lives in the United States, has frequently worn a red Maga (Make America Great Again) cap and praised President Trump. In an interview with NME last year, Lydon said that while he did not like Trump, who he described as “one of the most horrible little runts I’ve ever seen”, he was the leader the US needed. “But as a politician — which he’s not, which is a blessing — because of the state America is in, it’s so bad, it’s going to need a nasty-ass feller to f***ing say no to a lot of it. And he’s the one,” Lydon said. Matlock, Lydon’s former bandmate, said at the time that Lydon “would do anything to get publicity”. He added: “I don’t think that’s good enough, really … you can’t say you support Trump and wear a Maga hat for a laugh. It’s not funny.” On Monday, Matlock said his immersion in the fledgling punk movement in the 1970s came against the backdrop of the “rise of the far-right” adding: “Plus ça change.” • Far right uses baking contests and video games to lure recruits “There’s a lot of stuff these days about punk that I don’t understand. It has become a very broad church and a long way from the Sex Pistols to the Talking Heads and from The Slits to Dolly Mixture. Musically, but also a lot of punks got the wrong end of the stick and maybe some progenitors of it did as well.” “It is kind of weird these days. I’m constantly surprised by how many punks I see on my Facebook page that are pro-Trump,” Matlock added. In 2024 Blackpool punks attending the Rebellion punk festival fought with far-right groups who had been warned against attending the annual gathering. The clashes came after attempts to set up an alternative festival in the town, The Real Rebellion, which had been due to include at least one singer describing himself as a “nationalist skinhead”.