How a 'blue collar' anti-Trump punk band 'is winning over MAGA'

An American Celtic punk band from Quincy, Massachusetts that is explicitly anti-Trump and anti-MAGA is actually winning over President Donald Trump's supporters with their blue collar appraoch to humanity and decency, according to a profile in British newspaper The Telegraph.

Ken Casey, lead singer of Dropkick Murphys explains how he uses "kindness and humour to speak directly and persuasively to a stranger holding opinions with which he profoundly disagrees," The Telegraph reports.

“I come from the mindset that most blue-collar people, regular people, have a lot more in common, regardless of our political divide, than we do with the billionaire class and the sensationalised media that’s trying to divide us here,” Casey says.

“So here we are being divided by what Fox News tells America, or what a billionaire tells us; meanwhile, 12, 13, 14, 15 years ago me and that person that I’m supposed to be mortal enemies with would have got along grand," he adds.

Casey says that despite the vitriol and "vile" rhetoric he hears coming from Trump's most ardent MAGA followers, he still finds a way to connect with some.

“I have found that the Maga movement have created something vile on the far-Right where there is an anger and a lack of empathy that I see in the eyes of some people, where no matter how well I treat them, or how much discourse I try to have, [I’m] met with nothing but anger and hostility. When that’s the case, then everything goes out of the window. But I think it’s important to give humanity and decency a try first," he says.

The band, which has played massive venues including Wembley Stadium in London has gone from what The Telegraph describes as "political with a small p" to a much harder approach.

In their new song "Fiending for the Lies," they sing how “They got blinders on our eyes / They’re distorting our minds / No one seems to recognize we’re living in a world of lies, lies, lies”.

Casey says he is particularly baffled by how Trump managed to convince the working class that he is looking out for them.

"“The right has done a good job of convincing us that if you drive a truck, you must vote for Trump; if you work with your hands, you must vote for Trump,” he tells The Telegraph.

“I’m baffled by how they got a silver spoon frickin’ little b——, who got $400m from his father and who burned workers and fought unions his whole career, and he’s the guy? I get America being tricked by a demagogue, but I thought it would have been Brad Pitt or someone," he says.

Casey's upbringing "in a staunch union household," has shaped his outlook, he explains, with his grandfather trying to organize in the South with the Ku Klux Klan in the background.

"So, you think about the fight and the danger, and the blood sweat and tears that people gave before, and now we’re just going to sit down and let all those rights be taken away from workers? Let alone civil rights – we worked so hard for civil rights and that’s just being cut off at the knees," he says.

The Dropkick Murphys formed in 1996 on a dare, when a co-worker challenged Casey to form a band to open for his own in three weeks, even though Casey did not know how to play an instrument at the time. They first practiced in the basement of a friend's barbershop.

The band has consistently advocated for working-class values, unions, and social justice causes, and their music has often reflected these stances.

The band also operates their own nonprofit charity, the Claddagh Fund, which focuses its work on veterans’ groups and organizations offering help to people dependent on drugs and alcohol, The Telegraph says.

Casey says he wishes he wouldn't have to be a political band, but politics have become their trademark, he explains.

"“I would much rather not have to deal with any of this [political stuff],” Casey admits. “But how can you be a band who started with those principles and then cower at this moment? It would make the last 30 years of trudging around the world all seem like it was a waste of time.”

Casey says he hopes that the "other side" of MAGA remakes itself, too.

“I hope that the way the Republican Party was completely remade by Maga in little more than a decade inspires people [on the other side], too,” Casey says. “People who aren’t coming into this trying to make money off the stock market, and all that, but who are coming into it for the right reasons.”

And while the punk movement, The Telegraph explains, "has lost its political edge since the 1980s, when the Dead Kennedys railed against both the Left and Right – and were hit with obscenity charges for their trouble," Casey says there's a big reason for that.

"“My simple answer is that you could sing about Reagan without an army of Reagan trolls coming at you,” Casey explains. “You could sing about Bush without an army of Bush trolls coming at you – you didn’t have people threatening to come fight you… I honestly think one of the most disappointing things about America is how little of a backbone we’re showing. For a country that thinks it’s pretty tough, it’s not showing up for the fight right now.”

Casey says that he and his bandmates have had plenty of death threats, but he's not afraid.

"That’s just the nature of what they do. They scare people into submission. And they’ve been successful," he says. "There’s a lot of people who don’t want the threat of someone showing up at their house, or boycotting their business, or talking trash about them online. And that’s why a lot of Americans are so quiet. They don’t want the target on them.”

At a recent Florida concert, Casey interacted with an audience member in a MAGA hat.

"“If you’re in a room full of people and you want to know who’s in a cult,” he said, “[it’s the person who’s] been holding up a hat all f—— night.”

Addressing the man directly during the show, Casey said: “Well, first of all, do you support American workers?” he asked. “Of course you do… And you support American businesses, obviously? Okay. Now I don’t know if you guys are aware, because we don’t go around f-----g bragging about it, but Dropkick Murphys always sells proudly made-in-America merchandise only. And here’s the bet I’d like to make. If you lose the bet, we switch shirts, okay? If you win the bet, I give you $100 and [a free] shirt, alright? That’s why I said you can’t lose.”

Casey says while he doesn't "wanna say we’ve gained new fans, but I think we’ve won a lot of fans back. A lot of the feedback is [from people saying] ‘Man, I used to listen to you guys and then I shifted musical tastes or whatever, but your stance has brought me back to you. It’s made me realise how important punk is.’"

“I like that,” he says. “I’d rather have that fan any day than some meathead.”