GENE SIMMONS: 'If You Don't Like America, Please Go Back To Where You F***ing Came From'

On Friday, July 3, the day before the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons and his solo band performed at the Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Prior to launching into the KISS track "Let Me Go, Rock 'N' Roll", Gene told the audience in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): " In case you don't know it, you are blessed. You are living in the greatest fucking country on the planet. And that's called USA.

"Okay, I wanna tell you why I took a minute to talk about America, because if you've been asleep the last 250 years, tomorrow is America's 250th birthday.

"This is the greatest country," he continued. "That's why we've had anywhere from 20 million to 30 million illegal immigrants. Why? 'Cause they are willing to break the law and come into the greatest country on the face of the planet, right here. We have more illegal immigrants than most countries have populations on the face of the planet. That's a fact.

"I myself am an immigrant, but a legal one," Simmons explained. "I came through the lawful way. You wait in line, you respect the country, you respect its laws, and then you become a citizen of the United States of America. And in return, you get police who risk their lives to protect you. And you get first responders who are here for you. And if your house is on fire, you get fire departments that risk their lives to come put that fire out for you. You get a school system that's yours, and everything is free. Cops, fire department, school — free. All you gotta do is follow the law and do it legally, okay?

"I'm honored to say I've gotta get up at 3:30 this morning to catch a 5:00 a.m. flight because I've been asked by the White House to narrate the World War II Veterans honors in America's 250th birthday tomorrow in Washington, D.C. And unless you guys think Fourth of July is just fireworks and all that, without our veterans, there would be nothing. There would be no America. There would be nothing. Politicians talk the talk but veterans put their lives out there. All gave some, some gave all. Don't forget. So the next time you're going to a Starbucks and you see somebody in uniform, step aside and make way for a real hero. That's the least you can do."

Simmons then concluded: "And if you don't like America, please go back to where you fucking came from."

On July 4, Simmons will narrate a ceremony honoring World War II veterans for America's 250th anniversary. Simmons previously said that he would attend in honor of his mother, Flóra Klein, who survived a Nazi Germany concentration camp at the age of 14. Klein died in 2018; she was in her early 90s.

Gene discussed his views on America during an interview with AZ Big Media. He said: "I hear, 'I don't like this president,' 'I'm leaving the country.' Then they leave and they try to come back. We've had anywhere from 20 to 30 million illegal immigrants coming into America for a better life. They are willing to break the law. That's more people than there are in the vast majority of country populations on the planet. Did you know that? Why do they come here? I don't hear anybody say, 'Let's go to Zimbabwe.'"

Last December, Simmons, who was born in Israel and came to the U.S. as a child, told the New York Post that migrants seeking to enter the U.S. should wait in line just like he did.

"There are laws that are on the books," he said. "And if you break the law, you're a criminal. Illegal immigrants, undocumented — everybody uses a political term."

The 76-year-old rocker continued: "An illegal immigrant is a criminal. And I understand everybody comes from hardship. But you're not going to win that argument with me. My mother was in a concentration camp and our whole family was wiped out" in the Holocaust.

"I know it's tough, it's really tough," Gene added. "But we have a process and my mother and I both waited years before we were allowed into America. The American Dream is alive."

Simmons was born in August 1949, at Rambam Hospital in Haifa to Jewish immigrants from Hungary. He was the son of Holocaust survivor Flóra Klein and a father, Feri Witz, who soon abandoned his family, leaving them penniless prior to emigrating to America in search of a better life.

Simmons's mother died in December 2018 in the United States at age 93. She survived living in a ghetto in Budapest and three Nazi concentration camps.