Angry Green Day fans — all three of them — are accusing NBC of censoring the infamous left-wing pop-punk band’s performance during the Super Bowl’s opening program. The group, fronted by guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, a very, very vocal anti-Trump, anti-ICE agitator, opened Super Bowl LX by performing a mash-up of songs from their successful 2005 album American Idiot.
The alleged “censorship” came later when the band launched into its popular protest song, “American Idiot.” Green Day ignored typical broadcast standards and went forward with the lyric, “the subliminal mind-f**k America,” exactly as it appears on the album version of the song. NBC muted the lyric so viewers couldn’t hear it clearly. Again, networks routinely censor f-bombs, so no one has much reason to clutch pearls over it. Yet the left once again played the victim card and claimed the network orchestrated a nefarious plot to silence free speech.
Before the band took the stage, rumors floated around that Green Day would change the lyrics — as they have in past performances — to include the line “not part of a MAGA agenda.” That never happened. In other words, the band attempted to show a microscopic amount of class and only had a profanity censored, something that has happened countless times before and will happen again during performances on major networks.
The left immediately flooded social media and did what it does best: complain and play victim.
“NBC just censored Green Day lmaoooo,” one user wrote on X. Another added, “THEY CENSORED GREEN DAY THEY ONLY PLAYED PART OF EACH SONG.” Even with the censored lyric, the performance still leaned heavily political, given the songs the band chose to play. That still wasn’t enough for fans who hoped Armstrong would unleash a full-blown anti-Trump rant on live television.
“I don’t know at all anymore what to make of Green Day playing American Idiot and saying ‘f–k America’ at the Super Bowl while the HoF comes out. What is anyone involved going for here,” another user wrote. Yet another said, “I do enjoy Green Day’s music, and their coffee was great, but they are still borderline s**tlibs.”
One fan wrote, “Okay so Green Day didn’t do the second verse of ‘American Idiot.’ Am I surprised? Not really. I was partially expecting it. The heads at the NFL probably told them, ‘We’ll let y’all perform, but leave out the super blunt shot at the president.’”
Everyday Americans — the vast majority of Super Bowl viewers — have grown exhausted by politics seeping into every corner of life. Yes, these issues matter, and we live in a free society where people can speak their minds. But just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Say…wasn’t that line from a popular ’90s movie that showed up in a pretty rad Super Bowl ad on Sunday?
Right now, people are worn out. Just play songs everyone can connect to, about real situations people actually face. Green Day used to make a lot of fun songs back in the day. I still listen to the old stuff, but it's just tragic that what once made the band so great are now just memories. We need music that will bring people together and the best way to do that is by focusing on shared human experiences. Those are the songs we crave. Is that really too much to ask?
Liberal musicians continue to lecture fans about how they should think when it comes to the Trump administration. Help us fight back. Join PJ Media VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member