During Green Day’s North American “Saviors Tour” kickoff show in Washington, D.C., on Monday (July 29th), Billie Joe Armstrong held up a Donald Trump mask with the word “IDIOT” written across its forehead. The frontman’s actions have caught the ire of MAGA supporters, some of whom are calling for a boycott on the punk band.
The mask apparently was tossed to Armstrong from a fan in the front row (see photo gallery below). Video footage shows the singer holding it up as he sings the American Idiot song “Jesus of Suburbia,” before flinging it back out to the crowd.
One song earlier, Armstrong changed the lyrics to the tune “American Idiot” to “I’m not part of the MAGA agenda,” from its original “I’m not part of a redneck agenda,” as he has often done at recent shows.
In light of the recent assassination attempt on Trump, some of the former president’s supporters have called Armstrong’s actions insensitive, comparing it to the time comedian Kathy Griffin was photographed holding a mock-severed bloody Trump head.
Conservative journalist Nick Sortor wrote on X/Twitter, “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.”
Another X/Twitter account by the name of Fox Niight declared, “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 comparisons to the Kathy Griffin incident are a bit far-fetched, however. Armstrong simply held up a rubber mask, not a severed head. It was also a spontaneous moment during a rock concert, not a photo shoot.
Back during the original tour in support of 2004’s American Idiot, Armstrong was photographed wearing a George W. Bush mask with the word “IDIOT” written across the forehead, much like the Trump mask he held up on Monday night.
Green Day’s ‘Saviors Tour” finds the band performing their classic albums Dookie and American Idiot in full. See video of Billie Joe Armstrong holding up the Trump mask, followed by photos of the kickoff show. Pick up tickets to Green Day’s “Saviors Tour” here.
