Ted Cruz wades in on Bob Vylan Glastonbury controversy - but makes one humiliating mistake

The controversy surrounding comments made by punk duo Bob Vylan at this year’s Glastonbury Festival has now crossed over to the United States, with prominent Republican politician Ted Cruz claiming the “truly sick” incident at Worthy Farm in Somerset was “the base of the Democrat Party” in America.

Oops.

Glastonbury was already facing criticism over its decision to let the Irish band Kneecap – which has been vocal in its support of Palestine – perform at the festival, while member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh (known by the stage name Mo Chara) has been charged with a terrorism offence, one the group denied and branded “political policing”.

But on Saturday, before Kneecap were due to perform, Bob Vylan took to the same stage – West Holts – and began chants of “free, free Palestine” and “death, death to the IDF”.

IDF stands for the Israeli Defense Forces, the country’s national military which killed at least 36 children in a school housing displaced people in Gaza last month, has been accused of killing aid workers and murdering journalists, and has launched its own inquiry into claims it has opened fire at Palestinian civilians trying to secure food and other emergency supplies.

The IDF says its directives “prohibit deliberate attacks on civilians”, and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu – who has a warrant out for his arrest by the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity - has described the force as “the most moral military in the world”.

The Israeli Embassy has since said on social media it was “deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival”.

Political leaders also condemned the remarks, with a UK government spokesperson saying it “strongly [condemns] the threatening comments”, and Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch branding the chant “grotesque”:

Avon and Somerset Police, which oversees the Glastonbury area, confirmed on Saturday evening that it was “aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival” and that “video evidence will be assessed by officers” to “determine whether any offences may have been committed”.

Meanwhile, the BBC said “some of the comments made” as part of Bob Vylan’s set were “deeply offensive” and that it has “no plans” to make the duo’s performance available on iPlayer.

But it’s remarks from Cruz which have been met with ridicule, as he used an incident which took place in the UK as an opportunity to attack his US political rivals:

In one of the many tweets mocking his blunder, political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen branded Cruz an “absolute clown”:

The Texas senator later doubled down on his remarks after people pointed out his mistake, adding: “Lots of comments saying this is in England. True. These are the looney British anti-Israel Left.

“They are the very same antisemitic zealots as the American anti-Israel Left – to whom the Democrat Party is utterly beholden.”

The organisers of the festival addressed Bob Vylan’s remarks in a statement issued on Sunday, in which they said they were “appalled by the statements made” by the duo.

• Police are investigating Kneecap and Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury comments
• Ted Cruz backtracks on airstrikes comments in Tucker Carlson interview

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.