Green Day Shocks ABC Execs With Anti-Trump Chant During The American Music Awards

Last night, during a live broadcast of the American Music Awards on ABC, punk legends Green Day performed their latest single “Bang, Bang,” as scheduled. But they surprised ABC reps by adding a special message for president-elect Donald Trump in the middle of the song. According to TMZ, ABC reps were thrown “completely off guard” when the band broke into a chant of “No Trump! No KKK! No fascist USA!” during the song’s breakdown, inspiring a standing ovation after the band’s performance.

The chant Green Day incorporated is a call back to a 1982 song called “Born to Die” by the hardcore group M.D.C. The song was inspired by a clash with Nazis in Austin, Texas which prompted the band to write the chant: “No war, no KKK, no fascist USA.” Green Day had played with M.D.C. in the past and most likely picked up the chant after hearing it at one of their shows.

This isn’t the first time Green Day has spoken out about the president-elect. Earlier this month, the band changed the lyrics to “American Idiot” at the MTV Europe Music Awards to include a dig at Trump. Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong also had some harsh words for Trump in an interview with Kerrang. “The worst problem I see about Trump is who his followers are,” Armstrong told the magazine. “I actually feel bad for them, because they’re poor, working-class people who can’t get a leg up. They’re just pissed off and he’s preyed on their anger....He just said, ‘You have no options and I’m the only one, and I’m going to take care of it myself.’ I mean, that’s f--king Hitler, man!”