Billie Joe Armstrong made a risky move by holding up a Donald Trump mask on stage.
At Green Day’s tour kickoff in Washington, the frontman showed a Trump mask with ‘IDIOT’ written on it. This upset MAGA supporters, and they’re calling for a boycott of the band. A fan had given the mask to Armstrong, and he held it up while singing ‘Jesus of Suburbia’ before throwing it back to the crowd.
Armstrong is being criticized for his actions on X. Some people are upset because it happened two weeks after the former president was shot. One person wrote:
“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.”
Some were still not bothered by the rocker’s move. Another user said:
“Billie Joe Armstrong absolute legend in DC last night.”
The Singer Also Changed The Lyrics
Earlier in the show, Armstrong also changed the lyrics to ‘American Idiot’ to ‘I’m not part of the MAGA agenda’ instead of the original ‘I’m not part of a redneck agenda,’ like he’s done at recent other shows.
Green Day has always spoken out about social and political issues. In 2019, they changed the lyrics of the same song at the iHeartRadio Music Festival during Trump’s presidency. After Trump won the election in 2016, they criticized him while performing ‘Bang Bang’ at the American Music Awards. Armstrong sang ‘No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA’ during that performance.
During a New Year’s Eve show, Armstrong had again changed the song’s lyrics to criticize the MAGA movement. Elon Musk commented on X, saying Green Day had shifted from being rebellious to being bland.
Green Day Might Be At Risk
Billie’s recent action might be a bit risky due to what Tenacious D experienced. During the band’s show in Sydney, Australia, Kyle Gass faced backlash after saying the following about the assassination attempt against Trump:
“Don’t miss Trump next time.”
Later, Jack Black took to social media and said he was against any kind of hate speech and violence. He also said Tenacious D had stopped touring. Gass also apologized later on. Armstrong and Green Day haven’t commented on the incident yet.
You can see the video footage of Armstrong here.