Def Leppard Guitarist Just Says No To Trump Introduction

Days after a report that Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump planned to introduce Def Leppard at the band’s Iowa State Fair performance, members of the British group are saying, “Thanks, but no thanks.”

Billboard reports that Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell took to Facebook upon hearing the news. In his post, Campbell said Def Leppard was not into politics and if it were, Trump wouldn’t be the band’s choice.

By early Thursday morning, the post had received 1,000 comments. While many were supportive, the Def Leppard guitarist sparked some ire from Trump supporters for referring to the candidate as a “clown.” Facebook user Race Burley for example, took exception to someone from outside the United States commenting on U.S. politics.

“You’re from Ireland playing in a band from England – you should keep your piehole shut & be thankful that Americans are still buying tickets to Def Leppard shows.”

The Iowa State Fair is a major campaign stop for candidates. No one has ever won the U.S. presidency without having won Iowa. The fair stop is part of a larger concert tour for Def Leppard, who are on the road this summer with Styx and Tesla.

Def Leppard isn’t the only musical act to have problems with Trump this campaign season. Billboard notes that Neil Young took issue with Trump using his classic hit “Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World,” and Pitbull urged voters to consider other candidates after comments Trump made about Mexican Americans.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that it had been unable to confirm the claims made by Trump staffers to CNN that the candidate was confirmed to introduce Def Leppard at the Iowa State Fair show.

The Union-Tribune quotes fair media representative Tom Scearce as saying: “That has not yet been confirmed by our music staff. I would say the fair currently has no knowledge of Trump’s appearing on Aug. 15.”

The controversy with Trump comes as Campbell is doing everything he can to remain on tour with his Def Leppard bandmates. Campbell, who is fighting cancer for the second time in three years, missed a show in Alabama earlier this summer due to flight delays that kept him from returning from a treatment in time.

“I’m very happy to say that from here on out I will miss no more shows on the entire world tour,” Campbell wrote on Facebook. “The doctors and I have scheduled the rest of my treatments through the end of the U.K. tour in December, and the travel agents have done their thing to ensure that the travel fiasco of Saturday will not be repeated.”

[Image by David Becker/Getty Images]