System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian brands fans who support Trump ‘hypocrites’

Sign up to Roisin O’Connor’s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music

Get our Now Hear This email for free

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Serj Tankian, the frontman of System of a Down, has said that fans who listen to their music and support Donald Trump are “hypocrites”.

The singer posted the lyrics to one of the metal band’s early tracks, ”Temper”, on Instagam, along with a message explaining his political position.

Tankian wrote: “If you love this song or play along to it and love Trump, you’re a hypocrite-just a simple fact :)”

The track includes lyrics such as: “White right conservative might // Killers of Kennedy’s with no fright // The American way!” and “Parade! Laugh! Rejoice! Sing! // We’re the victors of... nothing.”

California-based band System of a Down are comprised of Armenian-American members Tankian, Daron Malakian, Shavo Odadjian and John Dolmayan.

Tankian criticised Trump repeatedly throughout the president’s time in office, recently saying that Black Lives Matter protests ought to “force the regime to resign”.

Other members of the band have also been outspoken in their criticism of the US president before.

In an interview with The Independent, Malakian said: [”Trump is] not careful with his words, and he doesn’t seem to realise that everybody’s listening to him,

“He does things that would have got another president impeached. Because we live in the social media world our attention spans are so small and so brief... that’s why Trump works, because he makes himself the biggest conversation, and the biggest news, every day.”