Roger Waters, a co-founder of Pink Floyd, considers Joe Biden to be a “war criminal” who is “feeding the flames in Ukraine.”
During a montage that was shown during his rock concert, Waters, 78, who is now on a solo tour, branded Biden with the controversial label.
The CNN anchor questioned Waters’ choice to engage Biden in the controversial part of his programme, sparking a heated exchange between the British artist and the journalist over the weekend.
By claiming that the US president committed a “major crime” by not pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to engage in negotiations and halt “this horrible, horrifying conflict,” Waters justified included Biden in his war criminal montage.
The two also disagreed on America’s involvement in the crisis between Russia and Ukraine and the continued hostility between China and Taiwan.
By interfering in these international problems, the US, in Waters’ opinion, has gone too far and is spreading “liberator propaganda.”
Waters got down with Smerconish during his extremely politicised This Is Not a Drill Tour to talk about the ideas conveyed throughout the performance.
The CNN anchor grilled Waters on calling Biden a “war criminal” early on in the interview.
The co-founder of Pink Floyd said, “Well, he’s igniting the conflict in the Ukraine.” This is a serious offence. Why won’t America persuade Zelensky to engage in negotiations, preventing the necessity for this terrible, terrible war?
Waters responded by accusing NATO of pressuring Russia’s hand. Smerconish retaliated by accusing Waters of “blaming the side that were attacked.”
“Any conflict, when did it begin? You must examine the past before you can assert, “Well, it began on this day.” You might claim that it began in 2008,” said Waters.
This conflict is mostly a result of NATO pressing close to the Russian border, something they had pledged they wouldn’t do when [Mikhail] Gorbachev negotiated the USSR’s disengagement from all of Eastern Europe.
Smerconish made the assertion that the US has a history of acting as a worldwide “liberator,” which Waters quickly rejected.
“Pearl Harbor is the reason why you entered World War II. The musician said that you were wholly isolationists.
Thank God the brutal war had already been won by the Russians at that point. 23 million Russians lost their lives defending you and me from the Nazi threat.
He also spoke on the current dispute between China and Taiwan, which has seen rising tensions since since Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the US House, unexpectedly paid a visit to the independent island state.
Pelosi expressed support for the country and pledged that China “would not isolate Taiwan” by obstructing US officials’ visits there.
Her comments were made as Beijing escalated military intimidation towards Taiwan and fired ballistic missiles in its direction.
Smerconish was advised by Waters to “go away and study a little more” and “attempt to figure out what the US would do if the Chinese were firing nuclear-tipped missiles into Mexico and Canada.”
The journalist fired back, saying, “The Chinese are too preoccupied surrounding Taiwan right now.”
The statement didn’t delight Waters, who said, “Taiwan is a part of China.
Since 1948, it has been unequivocally acknowledged by the whole international community. If you don’t know that, your reading habits need improvement.
You are accepting the propaganda from your side. Without really reading the material, you can’t have a discourse regarding Taiwan’s human rights situation.
In 2013, Waters said, “The Chinese didn’t invade Iraq and murder a million people.” “Who have the Chinese occupied and killed?”
Smerconish said, “Their own,” presumably alluding to the Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim people that Beijing had imprisoned in “re-education camps” and subjected to forced sterilisation and labelling.
Waters criticised Smerconish’s reply, calling it “bullocks.” That is just rubbish! Complete gibberish
On Twitter, the musician’s remarks drew criticism, with many users claiming that his accusations were totally absurd.
Roger Waters is playing what the Division Bell, right? The Defense, Strategy and National Security Program of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s deputy director, Alex Bristow, tweeted. It’s obvious that he has been residing on the Dark Side of the Moon.
“Communist China has never governed Taiwan.”
Rule of thumb: Anything Roger Waters says about geopolitics is incorrect, according to Lahav Harkov, diplomatic correspondent for The Jerusalem Post.
Olexander Scherba, a former Ukrainian ambassador to Austria, tweeted, “Hey @rogerwaters, first you claim there won’t be a conflict, because Putin is too good.”
There is a war, you say, and there is a solid reason why it is a conflict. Why don’t you just migrate to Russia now, you stupid, uncaring, ruthless little person?
According to the Chinese rubbish propaganda Scherba was spewing about Taiwan, it seems he has an option of where to relocate, Olga Lautman, co-host of the Kremlin File podcast, said to Scherba. China and Russia. I wonder whether he is employed by both.
There seems to be a dearth of Taiwanese experts, or even simply residents, on CNN’s contact list. And a lack of intellectual plasticity in Roger Waters’ head,” said writer and journalist Jojje Olsson.
Some online commenters sprang to the musician’s defence, claiming he was only “exposing CNN lies.”
“Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters exposes CNN’s anti-China misinformation!” Dominic Lee, a lawmaker and internet entrepreneur living in Hong Kong, wrote.
Johnny Akzam, an unsuccessful congressional candidate from Minnesota, wrote: “@Rogerwaters seeks to educate @smerconish of CNN on the falsehoods they propagate.”
A Twitter user from Somalia remarked, “Look at how Roger Waters (founder of Pink Floyd) destroyed CNN falsehoods and misinformation in 90 seconds.”
I hope our Somali government and people would learn how to use force to reprimand those who violate our essential land and sovereignty.