Metallica are not a political band. Lars Ulrich made that clear, because he realizes the band's fans stand on either side of the political spectrum and they do not want to alienate their fans. But that doesn't mean the band's members have don't their own opinions. Ulrich supported Hillary Clinton for president and made his left-leaning feelings known recently.
Now another member of the band is speaking up, guitarist Kirk Hammett. The shredder was interviewed by Billboard and once again reiterated that his band is not political and he's very careful what he says publicly about politics:
“The thing is, Metallica appeals to such a wide range of people. We have people on the left, people on the right, in droves. Part of the reason why we don’t consider ourselves a politically oriented band is because when you start talking about politics you draw a line in the sand, and all of a sudden [there’s] division, and that’s not what we want. We want everyone to be in this together, experiencing the music together. We see politics as a completely different thing. It’s like music and NASCAR racing, that’s how different politics are to Metallica.
“That’s why I’ve chosen my words carefully, that I — not Metallica, but I — will take it upon myself to get involved, if there is something I see that is seriously wrong, and I really feel that it’s my job to say something, and to call out people who need to be called out.”
Hammett then offered a fair thoughtful analysis of his opinion on President-elect Trump:
I believe in fairness. I believe in equal ground for everyone. I believe in equal opportunity and I believe that everyone is equal. That guy [Trump] doesn’t even believe in that! He does not believe that everyone is equal.
“For me, a good leader is someone with integrity, honesty and altruism, and a general sense of what is right and what’s wrong. We don’t have that in our leadership right now, and that puts me in a state of awareness and attentiveness, and it puts me in a state of wait and see what will happen. But if anything happens that I’m not okay with, I’m going to be super vocal about it for the first time in my life.”
The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012
When asked about Trump's tweet that climate change is a hoax, Hammett responded:
"Okay. Let's sit with that statement right there. What does that tell you about the man? What does that tell you? Any normal, educated person who has a pretty good grip on reality — evenly balanced, could even be a centrist sort of person, not left or not right, any person who I just described — upon hearing something like that would just think, 'What the fuckin' fairy tale did that come out of?'
Naturally, I imagine Trump supporters will read this and immediately think "what a cuck!" Because that's what they think anytime somebody has a dissenting opinion. A cuck, for those of you that have avoided any political comment section, is short for cuckold, an insult for a man who is the husband of an adulterous wife. The slang has transformed into an insult for anybody who happens to throw any descent towards Trump, and it's typically a debate tactic used when a right-winger has no other defense.
So, I'll be looking forward to all the #MAGA fans in the comments calling Kirk a cuck (Cuck Hammett, anyone?) for his rather accurate statement.
