Some of the sharpest criticism of Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury performance came from the US, which has now banned the rap duo
SEATTLE – America’s Vice President could not have been clearer when he spoke earlier this year at a famous security conference in Germany.
“Democracy,” JD Vance said, rested on the “sacred” principles that free speech and the voice of the people mattered.
“There is no room for firewalls,” he added. “You either uphold the principle or you don’t.”
Vance’s speech, delivered after he’d met with the leader of a far-right political party accused of playing down the horrors of Nazi Germany – and backed by Elon Musk – took particular aim at Britain, where he claimed basic religious freedoms were in “the crosshairs”.
Vance’s defence of free speech without exceptions is now being tested in real time, after British rap act Bob Vylan sparked controversy with their performance at Glastonbury and had their visa for an upcoming US tour swiftly cancelled.
JD Vance delivers his speech during the 61st Munich Security Conference in February this year (Photo: Tobias Schwarz/AFP)
During the show, singer Bobby Vylan, whose real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, started leading the crowd in chants of “Free, free Palestine” but then switched to “Death, death to the IDF”.
The singer defended his words on Instagram, saying he hoped the performance on the festival’s West Holts Stage on Saturday would inspire younger people to speak out when they saw something they believed was wrong.
“Let them see us marching on the streets, campaigning on the ground level, organising online and shouting about it on any and every stage that we are offered,” he wrote.
But his words at the music festival – streamed live in the UK – were condemned by event organisers, some attendees and Sir Keir Starmer, who said in a statement: “There is no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech.”
Yet some of the sharpest criticism came from the US, where Bob Vylan had been scheduled to start a tour beginning in Spokane, Washington, in October.
Much has come from members of Vance’s Republican Party, many of whom praised his Munich remarks defending free speech.
A report on Monday in the conservative news site the Daily Wire said the State Department was “already” looking at a potential revocation of the visas of 34-year-old singer Bobby Vylan and bandmate Bobbie Vylan.
An official added: “As a reminder, under the Trump administration, the US government will not issue visas to any foreigner who supports terrorists.”
The privately-funded advocacy group StopAntisemitism, which says it is “dedicated to exposing groups and individuals that espouse incitement towards the Jewish people”, has been posting online about Bobby Vylan and tagging various politicians such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
“Truly sick,” Cruz wrote on X, trying to land a political blow in America. “Thousands of people screaming ‘Death to the IDF’.”
Without citing any evidence, he added: “This is the base of the Democrat Party.”
Democrat-turned-Republican Leo Terrell, who chairs a Department of Justice’s taskforce intended to combat antisemitism, said he would be contacting Rubio immediately to see if he could prevent the “promotion of violent antisemitic rhetoric in the United States”.
“These…chants are abhorrent and have no place in any civil society,” he said.
The State Department did not immediately respond to questions from The i Paper.
But on social media, Christopher Landau, the United States deputy secretary of state, confirmed the issuance of a ban.
“The [department] has revoked the US visas for the members of the Bob Vylan band in light of their hateful tirade at Glastonbury, including leading the crowd in death chants,” he wrote.
“Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country.”
JD Vance has yet to weigh in on matters.
If journalists are presented with a chance, one hopes they ask him how banning Bob Vylan from coming to the United States fits in with his no exceptions defence of free speech. Let’s see what he says.