Rage Against the Machine guitarist blasts Trump with protest anthems, and rallies crowd against “dictatorship takeover.”
Tom Morello brought his signature firebrand activism to the Boston Calling Music Festival, delivering a blistering rebuke of Donald Trump during his Sunday night set.
Behind him, a bold graphic assembled nearly two dozen buttons spelling out “Fuck Trump,” while labelling the former president a “tyrant” and “Hater in Chief.”
Addressing the crowd, Morello declared, “Welcome, brothers and sisters, to the last big event before they throw us all in jail”—a nod to escalating political tensions under Trump’s administration.
The Rage Against the Machine guitarist didn’t stop there.
He threw his weight behind Bruce Springsteen, who’s been locked in a public feud with Trump after calling his administration “corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous.”
Morello quipped, “Bruce is going after Trump because Bruce, his whole life, he’s been about truth, justice, democracy, equality.
And Trump is mad at him because Bruce draws a bigger audience. Fuck that guy.”
He then launched into a searing cover of Springsteen’s “The Ghost of Tom Joad” as a show of solidarity.
Morello’s performance doubled as a rallying cry against authoritarianism.
He spotlighted Harvard University—his alma mater—which is currently battling the Trump administration over funding cuts and restrictions on international students.
Shouting out Harvard’s free online course “We the People: Civic Engagement in a Constitutional Democracy,” Morello praised it as a guide to “recognizing a dictatorship takeover of your country.”
The guitarist also resurrected Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land,” performing the “censored” verses that critique systemic inequality.
“Authoritarians and billionaires think this country belongs to them,” he told the crowd.
“Woody Guthrie knew that this land is yours.” Later, he flipped his guitar to reveal a taped message: “Fuck I.C.E.”—a direct jab at Trump’s immigration policies.
Closing with Rage’s “Killing In The Name,” Morello left the crowd chanting its iconic refrain: “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me.”
Post-show, he tweeted, “No retreat baby, no surrender,” cementing the night as a full-throated revolt against Trump’s agenda.
Watch Morello’s blistering performance here.
