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Julian Casablancas has shared that he feels no strong affinity to either party in the upcoming US election, referring to the candidates as “both sides of the same corporate coin”.
In 2020, along with the rest of The Strokes, Casablancas backed Bernie Sanders, who lost to Joe Biden in the race to become the Democratic party’s candidate for the presidency. The band performed at a rally for the Democrat candidate at the beginning of the year and later called for Biden to choose Sanders as his running mate in the election.
When asked how he felt about the upcoming US presidential election, however, the singer said: “Nothing”. Casablancas was speaking to NME in September, ahead of the release of The Voidz third album ‘Like All Before You’.
“To be super middle of the road, I would say the vice presidential [running mate] of Kamala Harris, [Tim] Walz – he seems like an honest, decent person,” he continued. “So just for him, I suppose I’ll be sports-rooting for that team more than the other team, but I think they’re both two sides of the same corporate coin.
“Emotionally, a woman of colour and all that – sure, let’s just get that out of the way and check that box so we can move forward. But, in terms of what people actually want, neither of the parties offer that – they just have a stranglehold on power.”
Similar remarks were made by Chappell Roan earlier this year, when she said she wasn’t going to throw her undivided support behind any one candidate in the election, due to “problems” on both sides.
After the backlash from her comments, Roan took to TikTok last week (September 25) to explain that her words had been “completely taken out of context, per usual,” and that “there is nuance” to what she says in interviews. Roan told her followers that she “encouraged people to use critical thinking skills” to “learn about what they’re voting for” and “ask questions”.
A day later, following continued uproar, she went on to further clarify her stance, saying: “I’m voting for fucking Kamala, but I’m not settling for what has been offered. Because that’s questionable. It’s questionable, the actions of our government, of the internet, of you and me.”
Meanwhile, a host of other stars most notably Taylor Swift and Charli XCX, have endorsed Harris as their presidential candidate. Harris has since shared that she is “very proud” of the former’s endorsement while the latter’s tweet was adopted by the Democrat nominee’s campaign team.
Beyoncé, Megan Thee Stallion, P!nk, Bon Iver, Quavo and more have also come out in support of Harris ahead of this November’s election. Billie Eilish and Finneas also recently championed Harris while Eilish’s ‘When the Party’s Over’ recently featured in the Democrat’s Ad on reproductive care.