Kid Rock launches new tour with a video greeting from Donald Trump: 'I love you all'

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Former President Donald Trump made an appearance – of a sort – at the launch of Kid Rock's latest tour.

Thousands of fans on hand for Wednesday night's kickoff concert at the Ford Center were greeted with a video of Trump, one of the rocker's most well-known golfing partners.

Trump's video message has gone viral, with more than 700,000 views since it was posted to TikTok two days ago by a concert attendee.

"Hello, everyone, I love you all," Trump says in the clip, which preceded the show's first guitar licks. "You're going to have a great time at the Kid Rock concert tonight. Quite frankly, he's amazing. All of you in attendance are the true backbone of our great country: hard working, God-fearing, rock 'n' roll patriots."

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Trump called Kid Rock "one of the greatest entertainers of our time. Not the best golfer, by any means. His golf game could use a little work. But a great, great entertainer, and that's why you're there.

"Let's all continue to love one another, fight for our God-given freedoms, and most of all, let's make America rock again!" the former president concluded.

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Wednesday's concert was the first of Kid Rock's Bad Reputation tour. At the show's outset, he played the politically charged song "We the People," which launches profane shots at Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Black Lives Matter movement, Facebook, Twitter and the news media, and the "Let's Go Brandon" phrase used to attack President Joe Biden.

The Michigan native, born Robert James Ritchie, spoke in a recent interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson about his support of Trump and defending his speaking style.

"Trump speaks off the cuff, I understand what that's like, sometimes you get it wrong," the star told Carlson, saying he appreciates Trump for not being "contrived" or "scripted" like other politicians. "I've stood next to him in the White House with the prepared notes and watched him read like one sentence and then it's like, 'Let's go.' You're like, this is awesome."

Before the tour, Kid Rock slammed venues for requiring the COVID-19 vaccination or face masks and told fans on social media that he'd eliminated Buffalo, New York; Toronto and several other cities from his tour for taking pandemic precautions.

"There's been a lot of talk about vaccine mandates and venues, people saying, 'I'm not going to that venue because there's a vaccine mandate' and this, that and the other," the rocker said. "If there are any of these venues ... they're going to be gone by the time we get to your city.

"If you think I'm going to sit out there and sing, 'Don't Tell Me How to Live' and 'We the People' while people are holding up their (expletive) vaccine cards and wearing masks, that (expletive) ain't happening."

Contributing: Bryan Alexander and Kim Willis, USA TODAY

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kid Rock concert opens with Trump video message: 'I love you all'