HENRY ROLLINS Says DONALD TRUMP Presidency Will Speed Up End Of Bigotry

Punk rock icon Henry Rollins had told The Daily Beast in a new interview that he believes the Donald Trump presidency will speed up the end of bigotry. He explained: "Some people in this country have been thirsting for a corny, pseudo-populist like Reagan since those days, and now they've got it. He's president now. And I think it's very likely he'll get a second term. And so what does it do, or what's the rendering, artistically? I think it's going to blow up in their faces. Because what's happening now is young people are saying, 'Oh, part of my job today, besides being a gorgeous 17-year-old young person, is to not hate gay people, is to not be racist, is to not call someone a 'fag' or anyone a 'bitch.' I'm not going to be a misogynist like my weird uncle who spouts off at Thanksgiving dinner. Like, that's one of my jobs, is to not repeat this.' And so I think a lot of that American bigotry — you know, 'What? Your grandfather's a funny guy!' — that's coming to an end. And I think what Trump and these guys don't realize, is that they are hastening their demise. And, literally, their demographic is dying.

"My neighborhood used to be a post-World War II, Russian, German, Jewish population," he continued. "But the young, Supreme crowd is coming in. You drive down the block now, and where it used to be four-foot two-inch-tall people who'd survived the war, and now it's a bunch of graceful, gazelle-like young people with $900 shoes. It's a different time, and what I think you're going to see is not necessarily rock against Reagan, or get-out-the-vote concerts, as much as you're going to see 'our prom queen this year is my friend Cedric and he got a unanimous vote and the teachers are so pissed.' That's what's going to happen. I think there's going to be a huge rejection of this really antiquated bigotry. And so I think what you're seeing right now is the old guard kicking and screaming as it's dying off. And that, to me, is 2019 punk rock."

Actor, poet, author, radio host and former BLACK FLAG frontman, Rollins has also made a name for himself as a spoken-word artist. 15 years ago, he decided to quit making music altogether, because the industry was making him miserable. Since then, he has dedicated his time to a variety of projects, including releasing books, reissuing obscure punk records, hosting a podcast and making funny Instagram videos.

This past February, Comedy Dynamics released Rollins's "Keep Talking, Pal" on a variety of streaming and digital platforms, including iTunes. It was billed as a stand-up special but was actually an hour of Rollins speaking directly to the crowd in a way he has been doing since the mid-1980s.