Axl Rose explains why he speaks out about his 'disdain' for the Trump administration: 'Not to is being complicit'

Elena Sheppard
Updated ·3 min read
Axl Rose rarely tweets, but when he does it is often about politics. (Photo: Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Axl Rose rarely tweets, but when he does it is often about politics. (Photo: Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose is outspoken on Twitter about his political beliefs — and disdain for the Trump presidency, which he’s called “obscene” — and over the holiday weekend the “Sweet Child O’ Mine” singer put it all out there. After tweeting about the U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams on July 3 — and receiving a reply — Rose then shared a three-paragraph post explaining his perspective.

“My disdain 4 [our] current administration [and] what I perceive as its threat to [our] democracy is no secret,” Rose wrote, also adding that he’s not very active on social media — though when he does take to his account it’s often to criticize the current administration.

“In general my posts in regard[s] to current events, politics or social issues [are] usually coming from a sense of outrage, obligation [and] responsibility to say something at times when I feel not to is being complicit (as opposed to a desire for attention or self promotion). I’m nobody, just a citizen that like everyone else has my own opinions [and] believes in my heart that ultimately I want what’s best for not just [our] country but for humanity, wildlife [and our] environment,” adding that in the United States people are “free to disagree.”

“So 4 me when I feel someone in this administration for example or perhaps media, in entertainment or the public says or does something that in my view supports or caters to the irresponsibility of this administration or various issues [with] government or law enforcement, I may voice an opinion,” he continued. “Perhaps a strong, or perhaps considered by some a lewd or immature, response or opinion. It happens.”

In addition to complaining about the Trump’s campaign past use of his band’s songs, Rose has gone toe-to-toe on Twitter with Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin.

Back in May, Rose wrote that Mnuchin is “officially an a*****e,” to which Mnuchin replied, “What have you done for your country lately?”

Rose’s reply: “Unlike this admin I’m not responsible for 70k+ deaths.”

In his more recent social media showdown with Surgeon General Adams, the rocker wrote:

Adams replied to Rose with a video about the importance of wearing masks.

Rose wrote back with an obvious nod to Adams’s recent Today appearance in which he did not say definitively whether or not it was a bad idea to avoid large social gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic.

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