W.A.S.P. turned their Saturday show at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom into a makeshift Donald Trump rally, with bandleader Blackie Lawless delivering an impassioned speech in defense of the president-elect and hanging banners emblazoned with his name.
You can read the full text of Lawless’ speech and watch video of the moment below.
Lawless gave his address ahead of W.A.S.P.’s final song, “Blind in Texas.” “We’ll do something a little different tonight. We are in the appropriate city to do this,” he said. “You know, it was Shakespeare that said, ‘Some are born to greatness. Some have greatness thrust upon them.’ It was the Greek historian Herodotus who said that when it comes to tragedy and things like that, that we do not rule circumstances, circumstances rule us.”
The frontman related the centuries-old quote to his 1985 battle with the Parents Music Resource Center, which placed W.A.S.P.’s “Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)” on its “Filthy Fifteen” list of morally objectionable songs. “Frank Zappa and myself stood on a stage just around the corner here and we talked about the evils that would come about them,” Lawless said. “Because censorship is an ugly, ugly thing. And it ain’t just in music. It happens in all forms of life.”
READ MORE: Blackie Lawless to W.A.S.P. Backing Track Critics: ‘Don’t Go’
Lawless noted the importance of the First Amendment, which guarantees the right to free speech, and lamented that “in the last six, eight years, we find censorship again rearing its ugly, ugly head. Now, this time it’s on the Internet, and it’s affecting every single one of us.”
He argued, however, that victims of this so-called censorship had an advocate.
“Tonight, you may not be aware, but right next door to us over here in the [Madison Square] Garden, there is a man who has undergone attempt after attempt, assassinations on his life, and this man has stood up for this country. He’s right next door right now at the Garden,” Lawless said, in reference to Trump, who attended a UFC event at Madison Square Garden that night. (The irony that Trump has referred to the American free press as the “enemy of the people,” banned reporters from press briefings and suggested that purveyors of the so-called “fake news” should be shot was apparently lost on the First Amendment-loving Lawless.)
“Now, I got two things that I’m passionate about the most,” Lawless continued. “One of them is that freedom of speech. And the other one is about being a patriot. Because I’m here to tell you, I don’t care if you’re Republican, Democrat, Independent — you need to be a patriot of this country. I am willing to die for this country. I believe in it that much. And that man next door, he believes in it too.
“I only got one more thing to say before we go,” Lawless concluded. “‘Cause I’m blind in Texas!”
As Lawless finished his address, his crew unveiled “Trump 2024” banners on both sides of the stage, and the screens behind the band displayed images of Trump from the day of his attempted assassination.
W.A.S.P.’s Album One Alive tour continues on Tuesday in Cleveland.
Read the Full Text of Blackie Lawless’ Pro-Trump Speech
We’ll do something a little different tonight. We are in the appropriate city to do this. You know, it was Shakespeare that said, ‘Some are born to greatness. Some have greatness thrust upon them.’ It was the Greek historian Herodotus who said that when it comes to tragedy and things like that, that we do not rule circumstances, circumstances rule us.
Now when I was a little kid, growing up across the bay over here in Staten Island, I never ever imagined that my time would come where I would be thrust into a situation where I had no control over. Now, it will be 40 years next year, there was a situation that happened, and it was called the PMRC. And there were hearings, there were hearings done in Washington, D.C. And two days later, Frank Zappa and myself stood on a stage just around the corner here, and we talked about the evils that would come about them. Because censorship is an ugly, ugly thing. And it ain’t just in music. It happens in all forms of life.
Now, down the street here in lower Manhattan, there’s a chapel down there. It’s called the St. Paul’s Chapel. We now know it as the chapel from 9/11. But before that, when George Washington was elected the first president of the United States, after he was sworn in in the federal building, he walked into that street and he walked down to that chapel and he consecrated the United States of America to God Almighty right there on that spot.
The very first amendment of our constitution guarantees freedom of speech. Our founding fathers were genius enough to know that if you can control speech, you can control thought. And these men knew this. These were great men. Fast forward a couple hundred years, 250 almost — now we have a situation in the last six, eight years, we find censorship again rearing its ugly, ugly head. Now, this time it’s on the Internet, and it’s affecting every single one of us.
Tonight, you may not be aware, but right next door to us over here in the Garden, there is a man who has undergone attempt after attempt, assassinations on his life, and this man has stood up for this country. He’s right next door right now at the Garden. Let him hear ya!
Now, I got two things that I’m passionate about the most. One of them is that freedom of speech. And the other one is about being a patriot. Because I’m here to tell you, I don’t care if you’re Republican, Democrat, Independent — you need to be a patriot of this country. I am willing to die for this country. I believe in it that much. And that man next door, he believes in it too.
I only got one more thing to say before we go. ‘Cause I’m blind in Texas!
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