Rubio's State Department slams door on British band after anti-Israel rant at music fest



The upcoming U.S. tour for a British punk-rap duo is now in doubt after the U.S. State Department revoked the bandmates' visas following an anti-Israel rant at Glastonbury last weekend.

On Saturday, Bob Vylan — composed of Bobby Vylan, aka Pascal Robinson-Foster, and drummer Bobbie Vylan — took the stage at the Glastonbury Festival in Somerset, England, one of the most popular music events in the world. There, with a Palestinian flag adorning a banner with his band's name in the background, front man Bobby Vylan made clear that his group supports the Palestinian cause and wishes "death" upon members of the Israel Defense Forces.

'I said what I said.'

"All right, but have you heard this one, though? 'Death, death to the IDF,'" Vylan said.

After the audience dutifully chanted, "Death, death to the IDF," over and over and enthusiastically waved Palestinian flags, Vylan added, "Hell yeah. From the river to the sea, Palestine must be, will be — inshallah — it will be free!"

Video of the speech can be seen here.

Response to the rant from Bobby Vylan was swift and fierce. Glastonbury Festival organizer Emily Eavis posted to social media that she was "appalled" by Vylan's words.

"Their chants very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the Festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech, or incitement to violence," she said.

The BBC, which streamed the Bob Vylan performance live, later expressed "regret" for not pulling the livestream. "The BBC respects freedom of expression but stands firmly against incitement to violence," the BBC said in a statement, according to the Hollywood Reporter. "The anti-Semitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves. We welcome Glastonbury’s condemnation of the performance."

The U.S. State Department likewise took notice of Vylan's speech and immediately moved to block visas for both Bobby and Bobbie Vylan.

"The @StateDept has revoked the US visas for the members of the Bob Vylan band in light of their hateful tirade at Glastonbury, including leading the crowd in death chants," Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau posted to X on Monday. "Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country."

RELATED: Rubio to 'aggressively' revoke Chinese nationals' student visas to eviscerate CCP's spy invasion

— (@)

Bob Vylan is scheduled to perform on this side of the Atlantic Ocean later this year, kicking off a 16-stop North American tour with a gig in Spokane, Washington, in October. The revoked visas likely put this tour in jeopardy.

For the moment, Bobby Vylan appears unfazed by all the "support and hatred" he has received since the stunt. In an Instagram post on Sunday, he encouraged parents to demonstrate in the streets and model political activism for their children.

"It is incredibly important that we encourage and inspire future generations to pick up the torch that was passed to us," his lengthy statement read in part. "Let us display to them loudly and visibly the right thing to do when we want and need change. Let them see us marching in the streets, campaigning on ground level, organising online and shouting about it on any and every stage that we are offered."

He later commented: "I said what I said."

Vylan also posted, "While Zionists are crying on socials, I’ve just had late night (vegan) ice cream," according to the U.K. Standard.

RELATED: Rubio not taking guff from ICC — hammers foreign judges over targeting of US and Israel

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Since he became secretary of state earlier this year, Marco Rubio has prioritized removing from the U.S. foreigners who threaten America and American values, especially those who take advantage of the opportunity to study at our prestigious universities.

"If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us that the reason why you're coming to the United States is not just because you want to write op-eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus, we're not going to give you a visa," Rubio said back in March.

"We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist that tears up our university campuses."

On his first day back in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order vowing to take "forceful and unprecedented steps to combat anti-Semitism," which included revoking foreign student visas and deporting Hamas sympathizers.

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Ricky Skaggs Found His Calling: Honor God And Bluegrass — And Play As Fast As He Can

‘I feel like God wants us to earn the right to share with the audience. It just is something we should do.’

Pan-African studies professor tells whites that for Juneteenth, 'Please don’t ask if you can come to the cookout'



California State University Los Angeles professor of pan-African studies Melina Abdullah issued a tweet telling white individuals not to request to attend a Juneteenth cookout.

"Attention white people… Please don’t ask if you can come to the cookout… #Juneteenth is freedom day for Black folks. It should be #Reparations day for white folks," Abdullah tweeted on Monday.

Last year, President Joe Biden signed legislation to make Juneteenth, which falls on June 19, a federal holiday.

Abdullah's tweet sparked pushback on social media, with some decrying it as "racist."

In response to someone who described her comments as "extremely racist," Abdullah replied, "1. Define racism. 2. Why do you think that?"

\u201c@DocMellyMel That\u2019s extremely racist.\u201d
— Melina Abdullah (@Melina Abdullah) 1655130985

Someone else pressed Abdullah about how that standard would apply to people who are "part-black and part-white? Do they come to the cookout or pay reparations or both?"

"Kinda funny…and not. Short answer: Those who would have been enslaved in 1865 get to come to the cookout," Abdullah responded.

Someone else asked Abdullah, "Do you seriously exclude your white father on account of his skin color? Is that progress?"

Abdullah replied by asking, "Do you know why we celebrate Juneteenth?"

"I guess July 4th is for the rest of us. Don't come to the cookout," someone else wrote.

"You can keep it," Abdullah replied.

In her Twitter biography, Abdullah describes herself as a "#BlackLivesMatter organizer."

Touré has contended that Juneteenth should be marked by everyone.

"Juneteenth isn't just for Black people. If you believe slavery was wrong then you should celebrate the end of slavery," Touré tweeted on Wednesday.

"Here's why white people should be part of Juneteenth celebrations—because white people should be acknowledging that slavery happened. Many of them would love to not do that. It's valuable for us to have them acknowledge it and see it as something that still impacts us today," he wrote. "Slavery isn't Black history. It's American history. If we restrict it to Black history and restrict Juneteenth to Black people then we allow white people to escape having to think about it," he declared.

\u201cJuneteenth isn't just for Black people. If you believe slavery was wrong then you should celebrate the end of slavery.\u201d
— Tour\u00e9 (@Tour\u00e9) 1655304572
\u201cSlavery isn't Black history. It's American history. If we restrict it to Black history and restrict Juneteenth to Black people then we allow white people to escape having to think about it.\u201d
— Tour\u00e9 (@Tour\u00e9) 1655313458
\u201cHere's why white people should be part of Juneteenth celebrations\u2014because white people should be acknowledging that slavery happened. Many of them would love to not do that. It's valuable for us to have them acknowledge it and see it as something that still impacts us today.\u201d
— Tour\u00e9 (@Tour\u00e9) 1655312520

Trump and Bill O'Reilly announce national tour discussing history of Trump administration: Talk 'will not be boring'



Former President Donald Trump and former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly announced Monday that the pair will be going on a national tour in December, discussing "a never before heard inside view" of the Trump administration called "The History Tour."

What are the details?

A news release published on Bill O'Reilly.com states that the "series of live conversations across the country" will begin in December, with locations already set in Florida and Texas, where they "will discuss exactly how things were accomplished, as well as challenges, both good and bad" during Trump's time in the White House from January 2017 to January 2021.

"From the pandemic that killed hundreds of thousands, to the speedy development of the vaccine, to the rise of the economy, to the global challenge from China, Donald Trump was the dominant decision-maker and the most powerful person in the world," the release reads.

Trump said in a statement:

"These will be wonderful but hard-hitting sessions where we'll talk about the real problems happening in the U.S., those that the Fake News Media never mention. I will be focusing on greatness for our Country, something seldom discussed in political dialogue. If we don't make our Country great again, we will soon no longer have a Country! I look forward to working with Bill, who right now has the #1 bestselling book, to openly discuss the real problems of our Country, and how to solve them. Additionally, it will be fun, fun, fun, for everyone who attends!"

O'Reilly added, "My job as a historian/journalist is to get important things on the record in a fact-based way. These conversations with the 45th President will not be boring."

When does the tour start?

The first event will be on Dec. 11 at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida, and the second talk will be on Dec. 12 at a location that has not been determined. The third event is scheduled on Dec. 18 at the Toyota Center in Houston, and a fourth event at the American Airlines Center in Dallas the next day.

Tickets go on sale June 14.

The tour announcement follows reports that Trump is considering resuming his "Make American Great Again" rallies as he considers another White House run in 2024.

Meanwhile, the former president remains prohibited from sharing his views on several Big Tech platforms, including Twitter (who issued him a lifelong ban following the Jan. 6 riot) and Facebook, who recently announced their post-riot ban wouldn't be lifted until 2023 — two years from its implementation.

Trump-hating writer Touré wishes 'excruciating' pain on Trump voters for siding with 'cult leader' — and is mercilessly mowed down for it



Among the millions of Americans who hate President Donald Trump is veteran writer Touré, who made a name for himself back in the day writing for Rolling Stone. (No surprise, right?)

And as rumblings rolled across the land Thursday that Democratic nominee Joe Biden was on the brink of defeating Trump in the 2020 election, Touré went out of his way to deliver a message to fellow Americans who voted for the president.

His Twitter missive was not kind. Not in the least:

If you’re a Trumper I hope the pain and anxiety you feel now is excruciating. You voted against America and for a c… https://t.co/zXQq4N6VgM
— Touré (@Touré)1604630453.0

"If you're a Trumper I hope the pain and anxiety you feel now is excruciating," he wrote. "You voted against America and for a cult leader who has no redeeming or admirable qualities. He's a cretin who cares nothing about this country and you don't either. You deserve all the pain and more."

Makes you feel all kinds of warm and fuzzy inside, doesn't it?

Well, Touré — who has amassed over 222,000 Twitter followers — couldn't have expected that his declaration would be devoid of pushback, right? Indeed, it wasn't.

How did folks respond?

Lots of commenters raked Touré over the coals for his downright nasty post.

Pundit Andrew Sullivan — no Trump apologist by any stretch — reacted by saying, "Some of the woke are so foul, vengeful, and bitter. What a graceless response."

Christopher F. Rufo — who's been reporting about government-sponsored far-left programs to combat "whiteness" — told Touré the potentially hard-to-swallow truth: "Most Trump voters will be momentarily disappointed, then go back to work, family, community — where they draw their primary meaning in life. I can say this for sure: you won't see any Trump voters screaming into the sky or calling in trauma counselors to the office."

Others added the following:

  • "Most Trump voters don't have time to get as upset as you want," one commenter said. "Ya know those pesky things like work, raising a family and being a productive member of society get in the way."
  • "Oddly enough, I feel fine," another commenter replied, after which another user reacted by saying, "I feel fine too! Funny how easy that is when you don't worship the government like it's a god. The left is even miserable when they win."
  • "So much for that coming together stuff y'all Democrats been lecturing everybody about," another commenter noted, after which another user said, "Correct. I have no desire to come together with people who don't recognize basic human rights."
  • "Ladies and gentlemen, this right here is why a Trump won in the first place," another observer said. "The bitter ugliness that just oozes from the left — the contempt they feel for others who think or vote differently than they do, the people who believe they are morally superior. We won't forget, sir."