Tommy Chong is not happy with the Bernie Sanders campaign after being dropped just hours before the two were set to appear on stage together at a campaign rally in Los Angeles.
On Monday, the performer told the Hollywood Reporter that the campaign is only pretending to want his support so they can get votes.
“It’s lip service to get the votes, but they don’t want to endorse what I stand for and what I’ve stood for all my professional career,” he said. Adding, “It was an insult.”
The Sanders campaign has issued a statement about the incident and called the removal of Chong from the rally a scheduling mix-up. “We appreciate his support but a scheduling issue came up,” they wrote.
Chong told the reporter that he thinks the Sanders camp got “cold feet” over the stance he has taken regarding marijuana over the years. Adding that he was mostly embarrassed by the whole dismissal, especially after promoting it on a radio show Monday morning.
“Now I’m going to look like a fool, like one of those guys who starts bragging about something that isn’t true,” he said. “And I don’t like that because my endorsement means a lot because of what I have gone through and what the whole [marijuana] culture has gone through.”
The performer has since posted on his Twitter account that he hopes to still provide support where he can to make change after learning of the scheduling conflict.
Hope to continue my support, reschedule, and continue activism, political change and promoting peace anywhere possible.
— Tommy Chong (@tommychong) May 23, 2016
Chong endorsed Sanders in a video in January.