Mumford & Sons member quits band after endorsing right-wing book. ‘Leave with love’

Mumford & Sons guitarist Winston Marshall is saying goodbye to the popular folk-rock band.

Marshall announced his exit Thursday, calling it “a difficult decision,” the Belfast Telegraph reported. It comes months after the banjo player faced an onslaught of social media criticism after endorsing a controversial book by author and conservative commentator Andy Ngo titled, “Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan To Destroy Democracy.”

Marshall apologized, but said he would take some time away from the group. He made his exit official on Thursday.

“For me to speak about what I’ve learnt to be such a controversial issue will inevitably bring my bandmates more trouble,” he wrote in a piece for Meduim. “My love, loyalty and accountability to them cannot permit that ... The only way forward for me is to leave the band.”

“I hope in distancing myself from them I am able to speak my mind without them suffering the consequences,” Marshall wrote. “I leave with love in my heart and I wish those three boys nothing but the best.”