Photo: Twitter
As far as political statements go, you’ll struggle to find a bigger one than this. Rock legends Green Day seized their opportunity during a New Year’s Eve broadcast in the US – altering the lyrics to their huge hit ‘American Idiot’. However, the pro-Trump crowd haven’t taken it well.
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The group were invited to perform on Ryan Seacrest’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. It’s basically the Stateside version of the Hootenanny, and the star-studded guestlist always draws a huge audience. The song was initially created to take a swipe at the Bush Administration.
However, singer Billie Joe Armstrong treated us all to an updated version of the anthem, swapping the line “I’m not part of the Redneck agenda” to “I’m not part of the MAGA agenda”. The change was deft, but it’s impact has been felt far and wide.
Trump supporters have denounced the performance as ‘woke’ – a word they use to describe pretty much anything they don’t like. What’s more, the band were even criticised for ‘making the song political’, somewhat overlooking its original meaning.
You can watch the swift change of lyrics here:
The fallout is a stark reminder that America is heading into yet another seismic election campaign. Joe Biden is likely to come up against Donald Trump once again, and the scandal-hit Republican is already coming out on top in a number of opinion polls.
Controversies have never stood in Trump’s way. Even while fighting a number of ongoing court cases, he’s still the most popular Republican candidate for 2024 – by some distance. One man’s ‘American Idiot’ is another man’s ‘Leader of the Free World’…
