The Department of Homeland Security has joined in on the MAGA backlash to country crooner Zach Bryan’s new anti-ICE song.
After it was released on Friday, a who’s who of right-wing talking heads lamented the multiple Grammy winner’s new, as yet untitled, track snippet. In it, he blasts the immigration goon squad’s heavy-handed approach to delivering President Donald Trump’s deportation dreams.
MAGA podcaster Benny Johnson said Bryan will lose fans as a result of the track, while conservative commentator Rogan O’Handley, who goes by DC Draino online, called for a boycott.
“We were just invaded by over 10 million illegal aliens and who does Zach Bryan cheer for? The illegals,” he said. “I smell a boycott brewing.”
Tricia McLaughlin, the DHS Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs, has now joined the pile-on. “Stick to ‘Pink Skies,’” she urged Bryan in a sarcastic comment given to TMZ, referring to the 29-year-old’s 2024 track about family, loss, and memories. McLaughlin, clearly happy with her work, shared the TMZ story on her Instagram story.
However, when the Daily Beast asked why she would comment on an artist’s work in an official capacity, McLaughlin went on the defensive. “Why do you want the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security’s opinions on a song?” she asked.
Reminded that she had given her take on the track to TMZ, the official told the Beast that she did so because the Trump administration is “incredibly transparent.”
“Members of the press asked and, as an incredibly transparent administration, we answer their questions as we are doing for you now,” she explained.
Bryan teased the new track on his Instagram, Friday. He shared a snippet that included lyrics that appeared to blast ICE, which is under the DHS umbrella.
“Didn’t wake up, dead or in jail/Some out of town boys been given a cell/I’ve got some bad news, woke up missing you/My friends are all degenerates but they’re all I got,” the snippet begins.
“The generational story of dropping the plot/I heard the cops came, cocky motherf-----s ain’t they?/And ICE is gonna come bust down your door/Try to build a house, no bills no more, well I got a telephone/Kids are all scared and all alone,” Bryan croons.
“The boss stopped bumping, the rock stopped rolling/The middle fingers rising and it won’t stop showing/Got some bad news/The fading of the red, white and blue.”
Bryan turned off the comments on the post, as conservatives rushed to bash him. Some felt that Bryan, who had previously posted a photo of himself with Trump on the site, had turned on the president.
Benny Johnson forecast trouble for the former seaman who left the Navy to pursue a music career. “He just drew over 112,000 fans to what became the largest concert in U.S. history last week. Now, that will never happen again. When will they learn?” Johnson warned on X.
Reps for Bryan have been asked for comment.
