PETALING JAYA, July 30 — The frontman for American punk-rock band Green Day, Billie Joe Armstrong has sparked a backlash from supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump after holding up a mask of the former president with the word “IDIOT” scrawled across its forehead.
His display at the band’s Saviors Tour kickoff show in Washington DC on July 29 was deemed insensitive in light of the recent assassination attempt on Trump, and comparisons have been drawn to the controversy surrounding comedian Kathy Griffin’s 2017 photo featuring a mock-severed Trump head.
The mask, which was reportedly thrown to Armstrong by a fan in the front row, was prominently displayed as the singer performed Jesus of Suburbia, a track from the band’s American Idiot album.
Earlier in the show, he had altered the lyrics to American Idiot from “I’m not part of a redneck agenda” to “I’m not part of the MAGA agenda,” a change he has regularly made in recent performances.
The rocker's actions were similar as on the original tour in support of 2004’s American Idiot, where Armstrong was photographed wearing a George W. Bush mask with the word “IDIOT” written across the forehead.
