Todd Rundgren Takes Anti-Trump Stance To The Next Level, Gets Slammed For Being ‘Disgrace to USA’

Todd Rundgren is speaking his mind regarding the most recent presidential election—and he’s doing it in song. Rundgren’s latest musical offering slams President Donald Trump and the right-wing media. Todd Rundgren teamed up with Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen for the song “Tin Foil Hat,” and the lyrics and accompanying music video makes the duo’s feelings on today’s volatile political climate crystal clear.

In the new music video for the song, which is featured on Rundgren’s album White Knight, a WAPE news broadcast is hosted by an ape-faced “Bill O’Rangutan” and it features a faux news crawl with headlines like “W.H. advisor Steve Bannon rescued from dumpster.” Rundgren debuted the music video for “Tin Foil Hat” on the Fox News show Watters World, of all places.

Fagen, who provided vocals on Steely Dan’s song about a fascist rally, “Chain Lightning,” more than 40 years ago, sings lead on the song, which targets Trump with lyrics like “He’s writing checks to his accusers / With his tiny little hands.” The video also makes fun of Trump team members Steve Bannon, Jeff Sessions, and Kellyanne Conway, as well as former Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly, who is obviously the “model” for Bill O’Rangutan.

Watch @toddrundgren debut his "Tin Foil Hat" video, which clowns @FoxNews, on @FoxNews https://t.co/IIYu9yJu6P pic.twitter.com/ok5wRXjpbK

— Stereogum (@stereogum) May 28, 2017

According to Pitchfork, during his appearance on Fox News for the premiere of the “Tin Foil Hat” video, Rundgren explained that the song’s visual was “pretty much only intended for [his live concert] audience,” and that it was meant to screen during his costume change. Todd added that he soon noticed “episodes in the audience where shouting matches would break out” because some of his fans thought the spoofs in the video were in bad taste.

Watters World host Jesse Watters called Rundgren out for his “provocative intermission video” that plays while he does his “little costume change.”

“It disrespects and mocks President Trump and people in the audience were getting upset about it, so now you’re saying, ‘You know what, don’t come to my show if you can’t handle it,” Watters asked Rundgren. “Don’t you think that’s being a little discriminatory?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcVc1jjB6V8

Todd Rundgren has been vocal about his anger about the election results last fall, and he has already told Trump supporters to stay home from his shows because they may not like what they’ll see. In an interview with Variety, Todd said the song “Tin Foil Hat” was driven by his “frustration with what happened in the recent election.”

“It was still pretty fresh, and we were still pretty mad about it, so it happened pretty organically,” Todd said of “Tin Foil Hat.”

In the same interview, Todd hinted that he would love to ban all Trump supporters from his shows. At the very least, Rundgren says fans of the current POTUS probably won’t be fans of his concerts.

“If I had the power, I’d say: If you’re a Trump supporter, don’t come to my show, because you won’t have a good time,” Rundgren told the magazine.

“And also, I don’t understand your frickin’ values. Because I’m not singing about that. If you don’t understand that basic thing, you’re just fooling yourself. I guarantee that in this show, if you’re a Trump supporter, you will likely be offended. Let the buyer beware! I mean, if you can’t take a joke, or you can’t admit that you’ve made a mistake, you don’t belong with the rest of us.”

Turns out, Trump supporters don’t want to be a part of Todd Rundgren’s shows or his message. Following the release of Todd Rundgren’s “Tin Foil Hat” video on Fox News, the pop-rock wizard was slammed by haters who described him as “irrelevant.” Some social media users asked who even goes to Todd Rundgren shows anyway. Another commenter described Rundgren as “a hater of Donald Trump “and “a disgrace to the USA.”

I would not go to see Todd Rundgren if he hand delivered a ticket to me. He is a hater of Donald Trump and a disgrace to USA

— Ann Marie Smith (@Thehappyshroba) May 29, 2017

Rundgren, who helped produce some of the most memorable albums of the 1970s, including the New York Dolls’ self-titled 1973 debut, Grand Funk Railroad’s “We’re an American band,” and Meat Loaf’s “Bat Out of Hell,” shot to fame for his own singing chops on ’70s/’80s songs “Hello It’s Me” and “Bang the Drum all Day.” Now he seems to be banging heads with some of his fans—or, more likely, his former fans.

You can see the music video for Todd Rundgren’s “Tin Foil Hat” (featuring Donald Fagen) below.

[Featured Image by Katie Stratton/Getty Images for Coachella]