Maynard James Keenan, vocalist for Grammy Award-winning progressive metal band Tool, says electing Donald Trump president of the United States would make America no different than Nazi Germany circa 1938.
In an interview with Scottish pop culture magazine The Skinny, Keenan was asked his prediction for America’s presidential race.
“Here’s the thing, I’m Italian and I’m Irish. The Italian side of me is the wine and food making family man; the Irish side is the sh*t-talking, ‘comedy first, always’ side,” the 52-year-old Ohio native said.
Keenan — who also fronts the rock band Puscifer and whose acting career includes a dozen credits — says he’s “very divided” about presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump winning in November.
“So I’m very divided,” he said, “because all the f*ckin’ awesome jokes that are gonna come out if Trump leads the US – the humour, the tragedy and the awful stuff that’s gonna happen – is gonna be fodder for comedians for decades.”
A President Trump, Keenan added, would also mean the “end of the United States.”
“Of course, the practical side of me thinks, ‘I’ve seen this before; I think it’s called Germany, 1938,’ the rocker continued. “Idiocracy is no longer a comedy, it’s a documentary. Idiocracy is where we are.”
Comparing Donald Trump to Nazi Germany’s mass murdering dictator has become a popular refrain among Hollywood’s most outspoken liberal dignitaries.
Keenan joins HBO’s Bill Maher, who said last March that he “had one of Hitler’s speeches translated into English, and I think this tells us a lot about where Donald Trump is getting his ideas.”
One week after Maher, comedian Sarah Silverman appeared on Conan dressed as Adolf Hitler and discussed the similarities between the Nazi leader and the Republican frontrunner.
Comedian Louis C.K. has also made the comparison — as has film director Spike Lee and Clinton-supporting actress Eva Longoria.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @jeromeehudson
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