Richards: ‘You’ve got to get rid of Trump’
Donald Trump has made many enemies in his time, but surely only Keith Richards has drawn a knife.
The Rolling Stones guitarist has told of the band’s bad experience with Trump before he became president. In 1989 the business tycoon was a promoter of their Steel Wheels tour.
Richards, 74, said that the encounter had left him demanding: ‘‘You’ve got to get rid of this man.’’
He told the BBC: ‘‘He was the promoter for us in Atlantic City. It was [billed as] Donald Trump presents the Rolling Stones, [which was] in miniature. We never have much to do with promoters usually, but this one got me. That was the last time I got angry. I pulled out my trusty blade, stuck it in the table and said, ‘You’ve got to get rid of this man’.’’ He told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4: ‘‘Now America has to get rid of him. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’’
Richards added: ‘‘These days nothing [gets me angry]. I can’t be bothered to waste the energy on anger.
‘‘I’ve got nothing to be angry about. It would almost be gratuitous . . . ‘What, you’ve burnt the toast?’ What am I going to get angry about?’’
Trump used the band’s song
You Can’t Always Get What You Want during his presidential campaign.
Sir Mick Jagger, the lead singer, said: ‘‘He used it on every rally through the election campaign . . . It’s a funny song for your play-out song. When he finished his speech he played out on this doomy ballad about drugs in Chelsea.
‘‘It’s kind of weird if you think about it. But he couldn’t be persuaded to use something else. It was odd, really odd.’’
Jagger also weighed in on UK politics, particularly Brexit, saying: ‘‘I’m not really happy about the status quo. I think we’re going through a particularly difficult moment . . . the current government seems to have a hard time navigating through it. One week it’s one thing, one week it’s the next.
‘‘Everyone would like to see a fast resolution, a united front . . . and some leadership that’s united rather than split.’’