During ABC’s December 31 broadcast of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest, Green Day took the stage and used the opportunity to defame Trump by changing the lyrics to their classic 2004 hit “American Idiot.”
As he changed the song’s original lyrics from “I’m not a part of a redneck agenda” to “I’m not part of the MAGA agenda,” the band’s front man Billie Joe Armstrong drew cheers and jeers from the live audience.
Originally penned in response to 9/11 and the George W. Bush administration, “American Idiot,” is among the punk band’s most politically-infused compositions. Trump supporters were clearly displeased during Sunday night’s performance and In response many MAGA advocates took to Twitter defaming the band and accusing them of being part of the “propaganda machine.”
Not the first time the musicians have been outspoken about the embattled former president, after last summer’s devastating wildfires in Maui, Green Day manufactured T-shirts with the word “nimrod” pasted over Trump’s mugshot and selling them to support people affected by the fires. And during the band’s 2017 tour, Armstrong would shout “Fuck you, Trump!” before launching into “American Idiot.”
In a 2023 interview with Rolling Stone, Armstrong said “I want people to feel unity when they come to a show. At the same time, I’m not going to puss out on saying what I feel about him and his administration.” “There are a lot of people in the quote, unquote red states that get a big sense of relief when I say something like ‘Fuck you, Trump.’ That’s because they’re in the minority where they live and at our shows they get this sort of release.”.
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: Naomi Lir