System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian and drummer John Dolmayan have very different political views, with Tankian as a vocal supporter of progressive causes and Domayan as an outspoken conservative. Their views on Donald Trump are even more polarized with Tankian calling for the president’s resignation, while Dolmayan claimed he was the “greatest friend to minorities.”
Dolmayan made a post on Instagram, which reaffirmed his political beliefs and explained his mutual respect for Tankian, despite their polarized views. Tankian now seems to echo this sentiment, and states that while their views are polarized, he respects Dolmayan and called him an ally for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, sharing a picture of themselves at a rally in support of this cause.
All of the founding members of System of a Down are Armenian-Americans and vocal proponents of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey. While many historians recognize the event, it is still not recognized in the United States at the federal level, with the Trump administration rejecting senate resolution recognizing the atrocity.
During this post Tankian also condemned the hate launched at himself and Dolmayan, before ending his statement with a call to read more non-online books. He also promoted a Guardian article documenting the artists in the metal scene who have been vocal in their support for Black Lives Matter, which Dolmayan found critical of his opinions.
“The amount of online hate and stupidity against him and I are unjustifiable: social media has created an erroneous digital society that partially thrives on this reality,” Tankian wrote. “Remember irrespective of the stance, only artists that truly care and are impassioned will risk alienating their base for what they consider the truth.”
This event comes after Dolmayan’s recent comments calling democrats “bigots” and promoting factually incorrect abortion claims regarding Black women. In the post he criticized the aforementioned Guardian piece and Metal Sucks article critiquing his abortion claims and his beliefs in free speech.
“Anyone who perpetuates this kind of baseless attack is as blind to justice as they are void of character,” Dolmayan claimed. “These kinds of fascist tactics are indicative of the establishment machines attempt at silencing free speech and condemning diversity of thought whenever possible. It’s no surprise that the dangerous, billionaire funded, extreme left along with their puppet mouthpieces in the media and entertainment industry resort to personal attacks and attempt to dehumanize those they deem a threat to their ‘revolution.'”
Photo Credit: Mauricio Alvarado
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