Elvis Costello refers to Donald Trump as a 'mediocre entrepreneur' in letter accepting award from Queen
Elvis Costello alluded to Donald Trump a “mediocre entrepreneur” in a letter accepting an honor from Queen Elizabeth II.
On Friday, it was announced the singer-songwriter was granted the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.) for his contributions to music as part of the annual Queen’s Birthday Honors List. In an open letter published on his website, Costello explained that he was initially going to refuse the award but decided to accept in tribute to his two grandfathers — both of whom served in the British military during World War I — and because his mother “told him to do it.”
“It would be a lie to pretend that I was brought up to have a great sense of loyalty to the Crown, let alone notions of Empire,” Costello continues in the letter. “I used to think a change might come but when one considers the kind of mediocre entrepreneur who might be foisted upon us as a President, it’s enough to make the most hard-hearted ‘Republican’ long for an ermine stole, a scepter and an orb.”
This is not the first time Costello has criticized a right-wing politician. On his 1989 track “Tramp the Dirt Down,” Costello accused then-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of “greed and avarice” and hoped to live long enough to “savor” standing on her grave. Thatcher died in 2013.
Related content:
