[LANGUAGE WARNING]
Billie Joe Armstrong, frontman for the rock group Green Day, blasted Donald Trump as a “batsh*t crazy” fascist that reminded him of dead Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. On Thursday, Armstrong joined fellow liberal Michael Moore – at the filmmaker’s one-man Broadway show – and launched into a stream of anti-Trump invective.
First up, the leader of the pop-punk band relayed his first impressions of candidate Trump: “The first time I heard of Trump legitimately running for president, the first thing I thought of was fascism. I was just thinking of all the buildings he’s got his name on. That type of narcissism – wow, that’s not that much different from Saddam Hussein. He’s batshit crazy.”
Armstrong added: “This isn’t just a Republican that you’re dealing with. He’s no longer the leader of the free world. I’ve never seen a president that was no longer that.”
Later on, Armstrong revealed the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree when it came to his kids: “[My sons] look at it and they’re like, ‘We have Satan as the President of the United States.’ And I was like, ‘We’ve had Satan before, and we voted Satan out. Just remember that.”
The following is the relevant excerpt from Rolling Stone magazine’s rundown of the September 21 show:
Armstrong’s statements aligned neatly with the previous 100 minutes of Moore’s show. “The first time I heard of Trump [who apparently came to American Idiot on opening night seven years ago] legitimately running for president, the first thing I thought of was fascism,” the singer said. “I was just thinking of all the buildings he’s got his name on. That type of narcissism – wow, that’s not that much different from Saddam Hussein. He’s batshit crazy.”
“This isn’t just a Republican that you’re dealing with,” Armstrong added later. “He’s no longer the leader of the free world. I’ve never seen a president that was no longer that.”
The singer didn’t hesitate to critique the Democratic establishment either, suggesting that the current crop of left-wing leaders are low on young blood and good ideas. “They don’t have any cojones,” Armstrong said. “You look at what’s going on in the Democratic party, I look at some of the people talking, I’m like, I’m looking at you again?! It’s a bummer.”
“I met Joe Biden, he’s a nice guy–” Moore began.
“We don’t need nice guys any more,” Armstrong said firmly. “Nice guys finish last.” The crowd cheered furiously.
Armstrong was heartened by the response to the overtly political statements he made onstage during his most recent Green Day tour, which took him around the U.S. in support of the Revolution Radio album. “We played in Alabama; we played in Florida; we played in Wisconsin,” he explained, mentioning a series of states that helped elect Donald Trump president. “People know what they’re getting into when they come to a show, these are sold-out shows, and that is really hopeful for me. They’re not just going there for entertainment; they know what the lyrics are about… Literally people are using their voice and doing it in song and doing it together. There’ve been a couple times when I said, ‘Fuck you, Donald Trump.’ And when you hear coming out of 15,000 Alabamans, it’s a lot different from hearing it in California and New York.”
The singer also urged lefty voters to show that same level of enthusiasm during next year’s midterm elections. “That’s the bummer about a lot of liberals, they don’t vote during the off-elections – and demonstrate their power at the ballot box,” he said. “[My sons] look at it and they’re like, ‘We have Satan as the President of the United States.’ And I was like, ‘We’ve had Satan before, and we voted Satan out. Just remember that.’” Moore expressed a similar sentiment. “Every year, three million 18-year-olds are eligible to vote,” he noted. “That means, since Obama was elected in 2008, that’s 27 million [new voters], if we can reach them, encourage them, and let them have a say.”
