Roger Waters Defends Anti-Trump Tour: Pink Floyd Co-Founder Says ‘Go See Katy Perry’ If You Don’t Want Reality

Roger Waters has received mixed reviews on his very political-themed Us + Them tour, but the Pink Floyd co-founder says he has no regrets about using his forum as a rock star to preach politics with an elaborate anti- Donald Trump message. In an interview with CNN, Waters explained why he chose to devote a large chunk of his shows on his 54-date North American trek to his anti-Trump stance.

Waters, who recently released his first studio album in 25 years, Is This the Life We Really Want?, told CNN he couldn’t sit quietly and watch the “charade” of Trump’s presidency. While he admitted “it would be a lot easier to be on tour” if he wasn’t so opinionated on Trump’s politics, the progressive rock legend is happy to report that his fans, even in red states, are “getting it.” As for those people who don’t want to mix music with real life issues or politics, Roger has a message for them.

“Go see Katy Perry, you know?”

Roger Waters’ Us + Them shows feature a giant inflatable pig with Donald Trump’s face on the side as well as large-screen images of Trump as Hitler and more. Certain segments of the two and a half hour show play out like an anti-Trump rally. As Waters performs the song “Pigs (Three Different Ones),” multiple unsavory images of Trump (wearing makeup and women’s lingerie or firing a weapon) are projected in neon the background with the message “Trump is a Pig.”

Earlier this year, Waters explained to Rolling Stone why he chose the song “Pigs (Three Different Ones)” to indict Trump.

“The first verse fits Trump really well,” Roger said.

“It’s about gluttony, and Trump is a glutton for his own self-love. He’s also a Philistine and deeply insensitive. He shouts it from the rooftops. Unfortunately, because he’s been elected as president of the United States, it has emboldened him in the view that people are impressed by him. I’m sure there are people who are impressed by him, but I’ve never met one of them.”

While a dozen or so offended concertgoers have walked out of Waters’ Us + Them shows each night, the Pink Floyd legend told CNN the tour has gone “great” so far. But Roger has a message for the fans of his music who don’t agree with his anti-Trump message.

“If you’re looking for an escape from a connection with other people on this planet, if you want to be, you know, separated from your potential to empathize with others, if you want a life in an ivory tower where everybody is an enemy and you need to build walls and you’ve got to do a better deal with the Chinese or whatever it might be, that this leader that you’ve elected thinks is a good idea, well, that’s what you believe.”

While he takes his message on tour, Roger Waters said at this point all Americans can do is “survive” Trump’s presidency because it’s “totally unpredictable.”

“I don’t think he knows what he’s going to do,” Roger said.

Waters also had a few choice words for today’s media.

“The problem is entertainment has got mixed up with news a lot in this country, my general sense is that everything has to be entertaining,” he said.

“And in consequence, Donald Trump is great for the mainstream media because he’s such a buffoon.”

Before he hit the road in May, Waters told Rolling Stone he hoped his Us + Them tour would be “an exercise in resistance.”

“Not just to Trump, but to all the despots, dictators, thieves and ne’er-do-wells all over the world,” he said. “And unfortunately there are a lot of them.”

You can see Roger Waters’ CNN interview below.

[Featured Image by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]