Art Garfunkel, the 84-year-old singer known for his work with Simon & Garfunkel, says he is weighing whether to leave the United States because of Donald Trump’s presidency.
In an interview with the Guardian, Garfunkel was asked about issues including “global heating” and “those in power” when he made clear his discomfort with the country’s current direction.
“I don’t like America’s position at all,” Garfunkel said.
He went further, saying he has been seriously considering leaving the country.
“I’m not aboard, and I’m thinking of leaving the country, frankly,” he said. “It’s real that the planet is getting warmer, that the water’s rising, that so many people are starving.”
Garfunkel also referenced the Trump administration’s actions in Venezuela.
“When Donald Trump took over Venezuela, are those the new rules? Just take over a country and run it?” he said. “It’s shocking, and you think: how on earth are we gonna change the presidency?”
Still, the singer struck a note of hope about the limits of any single presidency.
“But Trump won’t last forever. So we’ve got to hope,” Garfunkel said.
Garfunkel, who turns 85 in November, has spent years taking long-distance walks across the United States, Japan, and Europe. He said he’d still like to “sail around the world, see India and China, sing in South America,” though he added, “I don’t wanna go into space.”
Reflecting on his own identity, Garfunkel described himself in more personal terms.
“I hope I come across as philosophical,” he said. “I’m a thinker, a book reader, a walker, but mostly I’m a singer.”
He also spoke about the anxiety he feels before performing.
“I’m always very nervous, behind the curtain,” he said. “Then I walk out and hear the applause and I flip from fear to confidence right there.”
Garfunkel’s comments come roughly eight months after President Trump announced that U.S. forces had captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and flown him to the United States to face federal charges. Last week, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright traveled to Caracas to finalize an oil deal between the United States and Venezuela.
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