Ariel Pink and ex-Mumford & Sons bandmember Winston Marshall have promoted a Christmas song on Tucker Carlson Tonight that’s seemingly about Hunter Biden.
The musicians co-wrote ‘Rudolph’s Laptop’, which contains lyrics including: “Rudolph, what have you done?/ They found your laptop, it’s a smoking gun” and “Laptop from hell“.
The latter lyric refers to a book of the same name by Miranda Devine, which purports to tell the “inside story” about the incumbent US President’s son’s laptop, an item that’s claimed to have contained information that exposed Hunter improperly influenced American policy.
Pink and Marshall guested on Fox’s current affairs show last week to talk about their new song, which they also wrote with Two Door Cinema Club’s Alex Trimble.
During their appearance, stand-in presenter Tulsi Gabbard suggested that both musicians are still “struggling” with having “different experiences” as artists after they were individually criticised for their behaviours and opinions in right wing political culture.
On January 6, 2021, Pink and musician John Maus attended former US President Donald Trump’s rally in Washington, DC, which later descended into violent chaos including the storming of the United States Capitol by Trump’s supporters.
Pink was dropped by his label Mexican Summer in the aftermath. He was later accused of physical and sexual abuse, which he has denied, and went on Tucker Carlson to complain about “cancel culture”.
Marshall, meanwhile, faced an online backlash in March 2021 after he tweeted praise for a book by the controversial US journalist Andy Ngo titled Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan To Destroy Democracy.
In a since-deleted tweet, Marshall said that the book was “important” and hailed Ngo as a “brave man”. After taking an initial break from the Mumford & Sons following the backlash, Marshall officially left the group in June 2021.
jeez Ariel Pink really needs some cheering up or something. he sounds super depressed. pic.twitter.com/ElhsEDMD79
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 30, 2022
Pink and Marshall promoted ‘Rudolph’s Laptop’, which was self-released by Pink on Christmas Eve, on a recent episode of Tucker Carson Tonight.
Pink suggested to Gabbard: “Maybe this is my future. Maybe I’ll do politics.”
Marshall said that Pink was “cancelled for something that he didn’t even do” and that “there will be great art that emerges from it”.
You can watch a clip from their interview above.
Meanwhile, Marshall recently criticised the music industry, saying there’s “a lot of self-censorship going on”.
Upon leaving the band, Marshall said that he “got his soul back”. “I felt I could sleep again, it’s amazing the effect that had on me. It has been completely liberating. I feel like it was the right decision,” he told The Times last year.
He then made similar comments in an interview with Carlson in November 2022.
“The music industry is a small industry, and it’s not entirely clear to me whether there is a chokehold by progressives on the industry or whether there is a minority of progressives that have a chokehold on the majority,” Marshall said.
“But there’s certainly a lot of self-censorship going on. People who are too scared to say the truth and I think that’s because there is a professional and social repercussions if you do speak the truth and that’s a serious issue.
“When it comes to the business side, some of them are scared to say the truth and others believe, many are progressive as well who believe that, so there’s a real split there. When I say believe, they believe in those progressive ideas and those ideologies and they’re part of the echo chamber. There’s a mixture.”
Elsewhere, Marcus Mumford has said that he “actually really begged” Marshall not to leave the band.
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