Dead Kennedys Praise Mitt Romney, Get Slammed By Jello Biafra + Punk Twitter
Update: The Dead Kennedys have tweeted that their social media manager, not a member of the band, wrote the Romney/McMullin tweet:
A tweet from the Dead Kennedys backfired on the band following the invasion of the Capitol building yesterday (Jan. 6). Punk fans converged upon the Dead Kennedys after one of its current members thanked Republican senator Mitt Romney and former Independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin for their responses to the raid on the Capitol, leading Jello Biafra to slam his former band publicly.
Members of the United States Senate were evacuated from the Capitol Building as protestors invaded, leading to four deaths from injuries sustained during the raid. In response, Mitt Romney wrote in a statement, “What happened here today was an insurrection, incited by the President of the United States. Those who choose to continue to support his dangerous gambit by objecting to the results of a legitimate, democratic election will forever be seen as being complicit in an unprecedented attack against our democracy. They will be remembered for their role in this shameful episode in American history. That will be their legacy."
As a former Republican who turned Independent in 2016, Evan McMullin has been critical of Donald Trump for many years. After the Capitol riot, McMullin tweeted:
This led to the Dead Kennedys praising Romney and McMullin in a heavily criticized Twitter post. "Thank you @SenatorRomney and @EvanMcMullin. Mitt cares about the the USA,” the official DK account tweeted.
Fans immediately went in on the Bay Area punk band:
Jello Biafra, who hasn’t been a member of the Dead Kennedys since 1986, used his record label’s account to criticize his former band’s establishment praise. "As if today couldn't get any weirder, look who posted this!! How dumb and clueless can you get?? Was it scab singer Skip, who recently denied DK's are a political band, just, "a social satire band"?? Ea$t Bay Ray?? It sure as hell wasn't me... - Jello.”
Of course it was Eve 6, the new kings of Twitter, that ratioed Dead Kennedys to hell with a simple tweet:
In total, 52 arrests were made following the raid on Capitol Hill, though 47 of them were for protestors violating Washington D.C.’s emergency 6PM curfew. In another twist, Iced Earth's Jon Schaffer was identified as one of the invaders storming the Capitol Building.
Update: Dead Kennedys revealed in a tweet that the message that had been sent yesterday had been done so by their Social Media Managers without the band being consulted. East Bay Ray also checked in with his own take on the matter that can be seen below: