GEORGE LYNCH: 'I Have Been An Environmentally Active And Politically Active Person For Most Of My Adult Life'

George Lynch has once again defended his right to speak out on political issues, saying that he has been "an environmentally and politically active person" for most of his adult life.

The legendary DOKKEN and LYNCH MOB guitarist recently caught flak from some of his fans when he slammed President Donald Trump in an interview, calling the billionaire real estate mogul an "idiotic monster" and an "egotistical, self-aggrandizing, complete piece of shit" who "doesn't know anything."

Asked by the "Cobras & Fire" podcast why he has been more outspoken on political issues in recent interviews, Lynch said (hear audio below): "You've gotta be careful with interviews. You can alienate people, but you've gotta be brave to say what's truthful and important. If you have an audience, you have a responsibility — even if you don't, everyone has a responsibility to be a participant in the process and to be aware, and to edify and educate themselves as to what the truth is, so we can base our decisions based on something rational…

"I have been an environmentally active and politically active person for most of my adult life, and it's been a very challenging thing for me to incorporate my worldview into my music, because I'm not a singer and, for the most part, not a very good lyricist," he explained. "Being a lyricist is being a poet, ideally, and I struggle with that — I'm not a natural poet…

"I've been profoundly committed to pursuing the truth and doing what I can do, in my small way, to make the world a more just and fair place. So I'm very progressive in my politics, very liberal. I've been very active in environmental circles. But on the musical level, it's been challenging for me to incorporate those ideas into my music, because, as I said, I'm not the one delivering the message. In other words, if I work with a singer that doesn't feel like I do about things, what am I gonna do? Ask him to say something that they don't believe, sing about something that they don't believe?

"Doug Pinnick [George's KXM bandmate] is more of a libertarian on lots of issues, so he'll write songs about gun rights, which I completely, absolutely oppose. But I have to get up there and… I'm part of the process. Okay, we're doing a video for a song called 'Gunfight' where he's holding an AR-15 talking about, 'They're coming to take our guns.' I'm, like, 'What? Oh, Jesus.' And that's not me."

Lynch was criticized last September when told Australia's "Scars And Guitars" podcast that "progressives are more compassionate people by nature — we're wired to sort of be more empathetic and care about things outside of ourselves. We are about other people; it hurts us to see people in pain or suffer," he explained. "So they call us 'snowflakes.' But people that are wired, on the right, the way their brains are wired, they don't have that sense of empathy. I'm not saying it's good or bad — I'm just saying it is. And these people are the ones that have the guns. And they're willing to use them. And it's becoming pretty frightening."

Over the past four years, Lynch — one-fourth of the classic DOKKEN lineup — has appeared on recordings by THE END MACHINE, KXM, ULTRAPHONIX and SWEET & LYNCH.