WASHINGTON — Keith Richards, guitarist for the legendary rock ‘n roll band the Rolling Stones, said the US should “get rid” of President Donald Trump — and recalled when he said he did the same during a 1989 tour by wielding a knife.
The rock icon told the BBC Trump was their promoter for an Atlantic City show in 1989, and recalled going red with anger when the future President’s name took top billing for their show as “Donald Trump presents the Rolling Stones.”
“I got out my trusty blade, stuck it in the table and said: ‘You have to get rid of this man,’” Richards said.
He continued, “Now America has to get rid of him. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Richards story about the band’s dismissal of Trump, and his angry gesture with a knife, cropped up online during Trump’s presidential bid.
A speech from concert promoter Michael Cohl made the rounds after its publication in August 2015. According to the story, Cohl recalled a planned 1989 show, where a Stones concert would be broadcast on pay-per-view in coordination with Trump, at the time an Atlantic City casino owner.
Cohl said he arranged the concert broadcast with Trump on the Stones’ condition Trump stay away from the event, but Trump showed up the night of the concert and had a press conference.
Cohl said when he got to the band and told them Trump had shown, Richards got angry at Cohl, pulling out a knife and telling him to “fire” Trump. Cohl said he went back to Trump and the mogul eventually stood down and left.
As Trump won primary after primary and began to clear the Republican field, the story got further attention, with posts from The Los Angeles Times and Vanity Fair about Cohl’s remarks.
But bad blood between the band and the real estate mogul-turned-politician did not end with the alleged 1989 incident. The song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” became a staple at Trump rallies, and prompted the Stones to say they had not given Trump permission to use the song and asked the campaign to stop.
Nevertheless, Trump has continued to use the song, and the band’s singer Mick Jagger told the BBC it was a “kind of weird” choice for Trump to use their song to wrap up his rallies.
“It’s a funny song for a play-out song — a drowsy ballad about drugs in Chelsea,” Jagger said. “It’s kind of weird. He couldn’t be persuaded to use something else.”
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