Mumford & Sons' Winston Marshall is "taking time away from the band", following controversy over his praise of right-wing agitator

Winston Marshall, Mumford & Sons' guitar and banjo player, has shared a statement on his social media in the wake of public backlash to his online praise of controversial right-wing personality Andy Ngo. In the statement, Marshall, who is a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning band, reveals: "As a result of my actions I am taking time away from the band to examine my blindspots."

In a since-deleted tweet, Marshall originally referred to Ngo as "a brave man". He also praised Ngo's recent book, Unmasked: Inside Antifa's Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy as "important".

Unmasked has been described by the Los Angeles Times as a "supremely dishonest" book, and "a culmination of Ngo's single-minded quest to depict an assortment of leftists as a unified vanguard who mission is to 'destroy the nation-state, America in particular'."

"Ngo crosses the line into truly despicable when he downplays the murders of Heather Heyer by white nationalists in Charlottesville and Black teenager Trayvon Martin by vigilante George Zimmerman," the Los Angeles Times' review continues. "Every act of violence by antifa, meanwhile, is described so meticulously and ominously that Herr Goebbels would have been proud."

Following growing public outcry in response to Marshall's praise of Ngo, he shared a statement on Twitter in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Read his full statement below:

"Over the past few days I have come to better understand the pain caused by the book I endorsed. I have offended not only a lot of people I don't know, but also those closest to me, including my bandmates and for that I am truly sorry. As a result of my actions I am taking time away from the band to examine my blindspots.

"For now, please know that I realise how my endorsements have the potential to be viewed as approvals of hateful, divisive behaviour. I apologise, as this was not at all my intention."