Elon Musk criticised Green Day for slamming former US President Donald Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement. During their live performance on Dick Clark's "New Year's Rockin' Eve", the American rock band made an anti-Trump remark.
While signing the lyrics to the band's 2004 hit "American Idiot," frontman Billie Joe Armstrong replaced the original line "I'm not a part of a redneck agenda" with a more politically charged "I'm not a part of a MAGA agenda".
Green Day goes from raging against the machine to milquetoastedly raging for it 🤣🤣
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 1, 2024
This twist of lyrical rebellion did not sit well with the 52-year-old tech mogul, who swiftly took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice his disapproval. Musk, who doesn't shy away from speaking his mind, made fun of the band, stating: "Green Day goes from raging against the machine to milquetoastedly raging for it."
This isn't the first time Green Day has slammed Trump
It is worth noting that the band has been vocally critical of conservative politicians for quite some time now. During the American Music Awards of 2016, Armstrong led a chant of "No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA" while performing their hit song "Bang Bang".
Also did y'all suddenly forget their whole thing in 2016 during the AMAs
— 💗💛💙FaeDee.bsky.social💙💛💗 (@FarewellDecency) January 1, 2024
"No Trump! No KKK! NO FASCIST USA!"
This is not new at all. https://t.co/zggO1ykbZV
Likewise, Armstrong compared former President Trump to Adolf Hitler in a 2016 interview with Kerrang! magazine, according to a report by The Messenger.
"The worst problem I see about Trump is who his followers are. I actually feel bad for them because they're poor, working-class people who can't get a leg up. They're just p---ed off, and he's preyed on their anger," he said.
"He just said, 'You have no options, and I'm the only one, and I'm going to take care of it myself.' I mean, that's f---ing Hitler, man!" the "Basket Case" singer added.
The band mocked Trump by selling a T-shirt switching the faces on the front of the 1997 Nimrod album cover with the former US President's mug shot, jokingly labelling him "the ultimate Nimrod," according to a report by The Daily Mail.
During a concert in 2018, Armstrong told his audience that he "f---ing hate[s] Donald Trump so much". In 2017, the band replaced its original target George W. Bush and modified "American Idiot" to slam Trump.
While the band has a history of outspokenness against former US President Donald Trump, recent modification of lyrics seems to have raised quite a few eyebrows.
This shift has gained mixed reactions, with some heaping praise on the band for being bold and others claiming they have sold out to a political agenda.
Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong replaced the words from ‘American Idiot’ with “I’m not a part of the MAGA agenda”
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) January 1, 2024
Yes, because that’s totally what everyone is begging to hear..
They have become the American Idiots
pic.twitter.com/y23G2RrC98
Aside from Musk, conservative pundits criticised Green Day for the lyric swap, taking a jab at the ages of its members. Notably, the band's band's three members are all 51.
known for his unpredictable political leanings, Musk has been leaning towards conservative politics in recent years, especially in critiquing President Joe Biden's administration.
The Tesla boss recently lashed out at Biden for not inviting his automotive company to the White House EV Summit in 2021. Last year, he stirred controversy by reinstating far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on X.
