Topline
Country music star Zach Bryan has claimed a sample of his new song that seemed to criticize the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts has been “misconstrued” and said the backlash has left him “scared” after attacks by conservatives and government officials.
Zach Bryan performs at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on Feb. 9 2024.
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Key Facts
Bryan, who released a one-minute clip of a new song called “Bad News” last week, posted to Instagram to say the full version of the ballad will put the short clip into context and make clear the tune is about “how much I love this country and everyone in it more than anything.”
The singer said the people who have used his song “as a weapon” are showing “how devastatingly divided we all are.”
Bryan has been criticized by conservatives and members of the Trump administration —while being celebrated on social media by those on the left—since posting the song, which appeared to take aim at the tactics used by ICE, singing the agency is “gonna come bust down your door.”
The song goes on to say “kids are scared and all alone” before naming the “bad news” referenced in the song’s title as “the fading of the red, white and blue.”
Bryan clarified in his post that he wrote the song months ago, though didn’t deny he was inspired by ICE’s actions under Trump, and said the backlash he’s received since posting the clip has left him “not only embarrassed but kind of scared.”
Bryan has long insisted his music is not political.
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Crucial Quote
“I wasn’t speaking as a politician or some greater-than-thou a**hole, just as a 19-year-old man who is just as confused as everyone else,” Bryan posted to Instagram. “To all those disappointed in me on either side of whatever you believe in just know I’m trying my best too and we all say things that are misconstrued sometimes.”
Key Background
Bryan is most famous for his moody “Something In The Orange,” which spent 66 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, and “I Remember Everything” with Kacey Musgraves, which hit No. 1 during its year-long run on the chart. On Friday, Bryan posted the clip of “Bad News” with the lyrics that seemed to criticize ICE and also called police officers “cocky motherf***ers.” The song references changes happening in America, including a nod to his mentor and Trump critic Bruce Springsteen (“The Boss stopped bumping/the rock stopped rolling”). Bryan references rising tensions (“The middle fingers rising and it won’t stop showing”) before singing of “the fading of the red, white and blue.”
Chief Critic
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday told far-right podcaster Benny Johnson the song is “completely disrespectful… not just to law enforcement but to this country” and “to every single individual that has stood up and fought for our freedoms.” Noem said Bryan, a Navy veteran, “compromised it all by putting out a product such as that, that attacks individuals who are just trying to make our streets safe.” Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of public affairs at DHS, responded to the song Monday by telling TMZ that Bryan should “stick to ‘Pink Skies,’” a reference to the artist’s 2024 song of the same name. Country music star John Rich was one of the first to criticize Bryan’s new song by tweeting, “Who’s ready for the Zach Bryan-Dixie Chicks tour? Prob a huge Bud Light sponsorship for this one,” and “Nashville is full of guys like this” about Bryan, months after saying the town had been “overrun for the past 15 years by liberals from other states… Like locusts.” Country music star Jake Owen also responded to Rich, appearing to call Bryan a “tool” by posting a toolbox emoji.