Country superstar Zach Bryan rarely dives into politics in his music. But his latest song, an anti-ICE screed, changes that. In it, he trashes President Donald Trump and his crackdown on illegal immigration, while attacking Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for simply doing their jobs.
The new single, "Bad News," opens with fake tough-guy swagger as Bryan brags he didn’t “wake up dead or in jail” that morning. The verse spirals into self-pity, claiming he’s “missing” his girlfriend after the cops took her and then smearing police officers as “cocky motherf***ers.”
Didn’t wake up dead or in jail
Some out of town boys been giving us hell
I got some bad news
I woke up missing you
My friends are all degenerates but they’re all I got
The generational story of dropping the plot
I heard the cops came
Cocky motherf***ers ain’t they?
In the second verse, Bryan unloads on ICE and America’s immigration laws — laws that have existed for generations. His ignorance almost earns sympathy, since those laws haven’t been enforced properly in decades.
Bryan accuses ICE agents of “busting down” doors and frightening children. He flips the bird at the government and claims enforcing immigration laws makes America “fade.”
“And ICE is gonna come, bust down your door
Try to build a house no one builds no more
But I got a telephone
Kids are all scared and all alone
The Boss stopped bumping, the rock stopped rolling
The middle fingers rising and it won’t stop showing
I got some bad news
The fading of the red, white and blue”
As the kids say, this is pure cringe. Calling yourself a “country boy” while spitting lyrics like this feels sacrilegious. Real country folks are fiercely independent, freedom-loving people. They farm, raise cattle, and own their land because they don’t want the government — or anyone else — telling them what to do.
Bryan’s song reeks of pandering. He postures like a wannabe tough guy crusading against “safe borders” and “secure streets.” The performance feels sanctimonious and painfully insincere.
Given his history, it’s no shock that Bryan sides with lawbreakers. In September 2023, Oklahoma police arrested him for obstructing an investigation.
Bryan later told fans he overreacted during the traffic stop. Imagine throwing a tantrum over a minor police encounter and ending up in cuffs. Bryan seems to believe he’s too big for accountability — a belief that flies in the face of the Trump administration’s reminder that no one stands above the law.
“Today I had an incident with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Emotions got the best of me and I was out of line in the things I said,” Bryan admitted on social media. “I support law enforcement as much as anyone can, I was just frustrated in the moment, it was unlike me and I apologize. They brought me to jail, and there is a mug shot of me floating around."
In 2024, Bryan publicly supported police officers and mourned NYPD officer Jonathan Diller’s death. Now, he’s flipped again. Scripture warns, “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8).
That verse sums up Bryan perfectly — unstable, inconsistent, and far too eager to virtue-signal instead of standing for truth.
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