GWAR have responded to backlash over their set at Riot Fest, which saw them “murder” Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
The set took place over the weekend, when the band took to the stage at the Chicago festival and carried on their long-standing tradition of carrying out a pretend execution while on stage.
Over the four decades of them playing live, they have shown a faux assassination of countless famous faces, including Biden, Obama, Bush Sr., Bush Jr., Clinton, Reagan, Michael Jackson, and Mike Tyson.
When they took aim at Donald Trump and Elon Musk, however, the band were quick to spark backlash from MAGA.
“That’s not edgy, it’s grotesque and reckless and normalizes violence against a real person. This is not okay. Riot Fest and GWAR crossed a major line,” one wrote, sharing footage of the band pretending to stab Trump and then Musk. Another chimed in: “The left is truly sick.”
Part of the outrage also stems from the fact that the set took place close to the murder of the right-wing activist, Charlie Kirk, earlier this month.
Saw a friend’s video from Riot Fest—GWAR mock-beheaded Elon Musk on stage. That’s not edgy, it’s grotesque and reckless and normalizes violence against a real person. This is not okay. Riot Fest and GWAR crossed a major line. #RiotFest #GWAR #ElonMusk @RiotFest @gwar @elonmusk @X pic.twitter.com/ngr0GRVbP9
— karen (@hottakekaren) September 20, 2025
Recommended
Now though, the band have addressed the upset and dismissed “absurd” claims that they are “normalising” violence in any way.
“The idea that Gwar is normalising violence is patently absurd,” lead singer Michael “Blöthar the Berserker” Bishop said in a statement to Billboard.
“We’re not millionaires that are afraid of what people are going to say when they see what we do… We’re a group of artists that makes art, and it’s really the idea that what we have done is normalising violence… There’s nothing normal about the violence that goes on at a Gwar show,” he added.
“It’s a cartoon, it’s Looney Tunes… It’s trying to make violence into a spectacle and show humanity’s absolute absurdity. That’s what Gwar is, it’s absurdism. To say it’s normalising violence is really reaching.”
Riot Fest has also defended the band, and said that the criticism towards their performance come from “the dumbest people on the internet”.
“The dumbest people on the internet are still mad today,” they wrote. “Got to love it. As long as they keep posting that awesome video and mentioning our name for the free publicity it’s a win for me.”
Like I know this is a rage bait engagement farming twitter account, but “GWAR crossed a major line” is one of the funniest fucking things I’ve ever heard. https://t.co/lGIamyKnSi
— Riot Fest (@RiotFest) September 21, 2025
Criticism of the performance also came from outlets like Brietbart and New York Post, who both posted updates and articles about the Riot Fest set.
A representative then shared a statement with the latter, dismissing claims made against them. “Normalising violence? Humans don’t need GWAR for that. There is nothing normal about the Looney Toon violence acted out on a GWAR stage,” they said. “GWAR is absurdist spectacle. GWAR is to violence what the New York Post is to journalism. Ridiculous.”
It’s worth noting that the tweet that seemed to start the debate about GWAR’s on stage antics may have come from someone in the band’s close circles too, and is being used as a way to rage-bait people online.
The account, which originally shared the footage of the show and called the members “grotesque and reckless”, comes from a suspicious user with the handle @hottakekaren, and the bio of that account describes themselves as “GWAR’s biggest fan”.
Before the Chicago set, Berzerker Blothar hit out at the US government over proposed cuts to public media, after Trump signed an executive order that would end the federal funding for organisations including National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.