TESTAMENT's ALEX SKOLNICK To Perform At 'Headbangers For Harris' Virtual Fundraiser For HARRIS-WALZ Campaign

New York City councilman Justin Brannan (guitarist of INDECISION and MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD),Albuquerque "metal" mayor Tim Keller and Danica Roem, a former heavy metal singer who in 2017 became the first openly transgender elected official in Virginia's history, are putting together an online virtual fundraiser for the Kamala Harris-Tim Walz campaign called "Headbangers For Harris".

The event will take place on Wednesday, September 18 from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. EDT (2 p.m. to 3 p.m. PDT),with a performance by Alex Skolnick of TESTAMENT and featuring comedians Brian Posehn and Dave Hill, A SOUND OF THUNDER singer Nina Osegueda and more to come.

People interested in joining the call can RSVP at HeadbangersForHarris.com. You will then receive a link to the livestream and a link to donate to the campaign.

Skolnick has been very vocal about his disdain for former U.S. president and current GOP nominee Donald Trump over the years and was posting on X in real time during Tuesday night's (September 10) debate between Harris and Trump. He wrote about America's 45th president: "He's making no sense. Constant stream of contradictions. It's time for the US to get past this. News flash: She will be imperfect. She will make huge mistakes - AS THEY ALL DO. But we can support her and critique her. He's beyond critique – that's dictatorship."

In an April 2021 interview with Newlines Magazine's Faisal Al Yafai and Idrees Ahmad, Skolnick was asked if he was concerned about possibly alienating some TESTAMENT fans with his political opinions. Alex said: "It gave me pause at one point, when it first started happening. There's another phrase by an athlete — one of the greatest athletes — Michael Jordan, who once said, 'Republicans buy sneakers too.' I think he said that to turn down an invitation to speak at a rally for a Democratic candidate, something like that. So, at first, I thought of that — I thought, well, I have some fans that... I don't know how anybody could be behind Trumpism — as much as I could talk about Trump; let's talk about Trumpism — I don't get that. But do I really want to drive them away? And then I just thought, well, I don't wanna play this game and just have to suck it up and smile and sort of tailor my social media presence to make them happy. It actually felt like a relief to just say, 'You know what? No.'"

He continued: "I think it's beyond politics 'cause I'm not attacking traditional conservative politics. It would be very different if this was the '80s or even the '90s and I was talking about people who believe in lower corporate tax rates. Now it's gotten so disingenuous. And the whole belief in the right-wing news echo chamber and these headlines. Current headlines on Fox — one example, [President Joe] Biden just gave a press conference, and one of the banner headlines on Fox: 'Biden gives press conference full of lies.' These are the same people when Trump was giving his public appearance, they were praising it, falling over. So it's so disingenuous. And these same people that are criticizing me and threatening to not listen to my music, they're buying in to that. And I can't support that. And I can't pretend to support that."

Ahead of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Alex frequently tweeted against then-President Donald Trump's policies, including the last administration's handling of the outbreak of of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus first observed in China. In March 2020, the now-55-year-old guitarist blasted Trump for not being able to "convey a sense of reassurance during a time of emergency."

In the fall of 2020, Skolnick released two anti-Donald Trump rap songs called "Trump Sucks" and "Wear A Fucking Mask".

TESTAMENT's latest album, "Titans Of Creation", was released in April 2020 via Nuclear Blast.