Former rock star turned podcast firebrand Winston Marshall amazed White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt when he asked her if President Donald Trump would consider giving asylum to U.K. citizens who have had their free speech cancelled after being arrested for social media posts deemed “hate speech.”
Over the past decade, the UK government has ramped up so-called “hate crime” arrests and incarcerated thousands of citizens for posts on social media. This growing intolerance for free speech by British authorities sent former Mumford & Sons rocker Winston Marshall to plead for relief for his fellow countrymen.
Marshall, who quit the band in 2021, was on hand during Monday’s White House presser and he had a very interesting question for the press secretary, according to the New York Post.
He noted that scores of Brits are facing “extensive prison sentences for tweets, social media posts and general free speech issues” and then had a question for Leavitt.
“Would the Trump administration consider asylum for British citizens in such a situation?” he asked.
Will the Trump administration consider political asylum for British Citizens prosecuted for speech? I asked @PressSec Karoline Leavitt and this was her response: pic.twitter.com/UDZcc6OB4A
— Winston Marshall (@MrWinMarshall) April 28, 2025
Leavitt seemed a bit taken aback by the question, and replied, “I have not heard that proposed to the president nor have I spoken to him about that idea, but I certainly can talk to our national security team and see if it’s something the administration would entertain.”
British authorities have been engaging in a serious curtailing of free speech in the UK in a supposed effort to stop “extremism” there.
In February, Vice President JD Vance lamented the loss of free speech, not just in the UK, but all across Europe. “In Britain and across Europe free speech, I fear, is in retreat.,” he said in a speech in Germany where he took European elites to task for the “shocking” censorship that he feels threatens western civilization.