Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem went scorched earth on country music superstar Zach Bryan over his controversial new song targeting ICE raids — as the singer said the tune is about “how much I love this country.”
Noem said she was “disappointed and disheartened” after she listened to the short demo of Bryan’s song “Bad News,” which was released on Oct. 3.
“I hope he understands how completely disrespectful that song is, not just to law enforcement but to this country,” Noem told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson on Tuesday.
“To every single individual that has stood up and fought for our freedoms. He just compromised it all by putting out a product such as that, that attacks individuals who are just trying to make our streets safe.”
Bryan, 29, shared the short snippet on social media, captioning the post “the fading of the red white and blue.”
The song follows the protagonist struggling in life, but not “dead or in jail,” with only a group of degenerate friends.
“I heard the cops came
Cocky motherf–kers, ain’t they?
And ICE is gonna come bust down your door.”
Bryan claims kids are scared, houses aren’t being built, but everyone has a telephone, even as bars stopped being the social spot of the town.
“The middlе fingers rising, and it won’t stop showing
Got some bad news
Thе fading of the red, white and blue.”
Noem spoke out against the song during a short media briefing in Portland after federal agents arrested several illegal immigrants, including an accused child rapist, earlier in the day, according to Johnson.
The former South Dakota governor was elated to share that she was never a fan of Bryan — who served in the US Navy — before he released the clip of the song.
“Zach, I didn’t listen to your music. I’m happy about that today,” Noem said. That makes me very happy that I never gave you a single penny to enrich your lifestyle, if you truly believe what that song stands for.”
The former South Dakota governor threw her support behind other country singers, such as Jason Aldean, John Rich, Jon Pardi and Kid Rock.
“Those guys know what it means to stand up to freedom,” she said. “Glad I didn’t waste any money on Zach.”
Noem called out Bryan’s apparent hypocrisy for releasing the anti-law enforcement song while having police protect him at his concerts.
“That’s what’s so special about law enforcement, is that they don’t pick and choose who they defend when they do their jobs. They will even defend and protect people that don’t respect them or stand up for them so that’s who I’ll point to when I tell my grandkids to grow up like someone.”
The DHS shot back at Bryan, using his hit song “Revival” as the backing track to a video of federal agents detaining people during different raids around the country, according to a post to X.
The Grammy winner fired back at the outrage over his song and claimed that the tune is about “how much I love this country and everyone in it more than anything.”
“When you hear the rest of the song, you will understand the full context that hits on both sides of the aisle,” Bryan said on Instagram late Tuesday. “Everyone using this now as a weapon is only proving how devastatingly divided we all are. We need to find our way back.
“I served this country. I love this country and the song itself is about all of us coming out of this divided space. I wasn’t speaking as a politician or some greater-than-thou a–hole, just a 29-year-old man who is just as confused as everyone else. To see how much sh-t it stirred up makes me not only embarrassed but kind of scared. Left wing or right wing, we’re all one bird and American.
Bryan made clear that he’s “on neither of these radical sides.”
“To all those disappointed in me on either side of whatever you believe in, just know i’m trying to do my best too and we all say things that are misconstrued sometimes,” Bryan said.
“The last few months of my life I’ve been scrutinized by more people than I ever thought possible. I feel like I’ve tried my hardest in so many ways and it’s so hard to see where my bearings even are anymore. Been falling off a cliff while trying to grow wings at the same time.
“I am SO proud to have served in a country where we can all speak freely and converse amongst each other without getting doxxed or accosted on the internet or worse; the violence and heartbreak we’ve faced in the last few months!”
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