Nirvana's Krist Novoselic deletes Twitter following backlash against his praise of Trump's speech

Krist Novoselic has deactivated his Twitter account, after his praise of Donald Trump's controversial speech on "law and order" on Monday, June 1, was met with massive backlash online. In a since-deleted post on Facebook, the Nirvana bassist remarked that "Trump knocked it out of the park with this speech".

In the speech Novoselic references, Trump announced that he would deploy the military if local officials were unable to quell the widespread unrest over the death of George Floyd – an unarmed black man who died in Minneapolis last week after a white police officer kneeled on his neck.

"I have been watching the images in the media and thinking about how polarized our country is," Novoselic wrote. "I mean, even wearing medical masks in public can be seen as a political statement! The violence, (and not the protests) appear as a leftist insurrection. Imagine if so-called "patriot militias" were raising this kind of hell? If this were the case, left wing people would welcome federal intervention.

"Most Americans want peace in their communities and President Trump spoke to this desire," he continued. "Never mind the legal details that few understand – Trump said he would stop the violence and this speaks to many."

The comments soon attracted a fiery response on Twitter.

In response, Novoselic deleted his Twitter account. He has also attempted to clarify his comments, but has not backed down from his original stance.

"As an avowed independent, I don’t endorse a major party or candidate," he wrote on Facebook yesterday, June 3. "And it feels insane to have to say this, but I don’t support fascism, and I don’t support an authoritarian state. I believe in a civilized society and that we all have to work toward that. Love and thanks to anyone who cares to read this.”

Novoselic's former Nirvana bandmate Dave Grohl, meanwhile, was among the many acts and music organisations who observed 'Blackout Tuesday' this week – announcing that Foo Fighters "stand with the black community and our colleagues, artists, crews, fans and leaders fighting against injustice and racism."