According to Consequence Heavy, Billie Joe Armstrong, lead from legendary band Green Day, is under fire after supporters of former president Donald Trump called for a boycott of the band. This started after Armstrong held up a mask of Trump’s head with the term “Idiot” written on the forehead during their Washington DC show. This is in reference to the band’s famous classic album American Idiot, for which Green Day was performing when Armstrong held up the mask. Specifically, the song “Jesus of Suburbia.” Additionally, Armstrong changed the lyrics of the song “American Idiot” for the bit, singing “I’m not part of the MAGA agenda,” from its original “I’m not part of a redneck agenda,” which Armstrong has done frequently since 2016. Despite this, Trump supporters have taken offense to the punk band’s actions, in light of Donald Trump’s recent assassination attempt. 

 

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Conservative journalist Nick Sortor made a post about the incident on X/Twitter, saying, “Green Day had a concert here in DC last night. They decided it’d be a good idea to hold up a severed Trump head. Just TWO WEEKS after he was sh*t in the head. These people are SICK.”  

In addition, Fox Niight posted on X/Twitter, “Billie Joe Armstrong holds up a severed Donald Trump head. He is a good example of an AMERICAN IDIOT. BOYCOTT GREEN DAY #TeamUSA Vote for Trump everyone.” 

The term “severed head” used to describe the fake mask of Trump’s head in both posts.  

Being punk royalty, Green Day has never shied away from stating their political views. American Idiot was released in 2004 and features songs criticizing Congress and justifications for the war in Iraq (Song “Holiday”), etc. Being a punk band, Green Day has always represented what they think is right. They recently signed an open letter to the Senate Commerce Committee supporting a ticket industry reform. Recently the band was even added to the National Recording Registry by the Liberty of Congress. 

The DC show on July 29th, 2024, was the first in their current tour called The Saviors Tour, promoting their new album, Saviors. This album features their newest summer single “Corvette Summer.” Not to mention, featuring their most recent major hit “Dilemma.” 

Photo Credit: Mehreen Rizvi