- Punk band swapped 'redneck' with Donald Trump slogan 'MAGA' during a live performance
- Trump supporters were furious and accused the band of selling out to Biden
- But the 2004 song was always highly political and mocking conservatives
Punk band Green Day adapted a line in their famous political song American Idiot to mock Donald Trump during a New Year's Eve performance.
During Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, the band changed the line “I'm not a part of a redneck agenda” to “I'm not a part of the MAGA agenda.”
MAGA stands for 'Make America Great Again' and was Trump's slogan during his presidential run in 2016 and beyond.
American Idiot was written in 2004 to criticize then-president George W. Bush and has been repurposed for a new generation since 2017.
But the live performance and subsequent sharing on social media exposed the band's anti-Trump lyrics to more than the usual fans.
“Green Day goes from raging against the machine to raging for it milquetoasted,” Tesla and Twitter owner Elon Musk wrote on the social media platform
Supporters of the former president were furious that the band targeted them, with some even accusing them of selling out.
“Green Day goes from raging against the machine to raging for it milquetoasted,” Tesla and Twitter owner Elon Musk wrote on the social media platform.
“Sellouts lied to everyone about their political stance, they went from draining the swamp to getting that bag picked up,” another user wrote.
'Green Day is woke corporate fake punk. I'm old enough to remember when the punks were against the establishment,” a third raged.
Montana Republican chairman Don Kaltschmidt believed the band would lose fans because of its stunt.
'Bad decision, never bring politics into your music… you just bullied half your fans… no need. But the young people make foolish decisions… “be there,” he wrote.
Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong is now 51 and along with the rest of the band, they are no longer the spring chickens they were decades ago at the height of their fame.
However, many others pointed out that Green Day was always one of the most political bands in music, and few songs are more so than American Idiot.
“So you guys just found out that Green Day was singing protest songs? Did you think they were MAGAs?' wrote one.
“This is like when you guys found out Rage Against the Machine is anti-capitalist. Did you guys even listen to the music you had growing up?”
'Green Day's album American Idiot was released twenty years ago. If you're just now discovering their political leanings: 1. you're not a fan 2. you never listen to lyrics 3. you're one of those American idiots,” another added.
The song, timed to the run-up to the 2004 presidential election in which Bush was vying for a second term, took aim at the Iraq war, conservative politics and the corporate media.
Armstrong told an audience in a live version of the song at the time, “Don't hate our country, just hate our government.”
Green Day has adapted the text to be about MAGA in 2017 and uses it for every live performance in much the same way as in 2004.
“It makes me sad that this song is more relevant and true now than it was 20 years ago when it came out,” one fan wrote.
The band also mocked Trump by selling a T-shirt, swapping the faces on the front of the 1997 Nimrod album cover with his mugshot, calling him “the ultimate Nimrod.”