The Backlash Over Tenacious D's Controversial Trump Joke Proves Australia Is A Nation Of Cops (2024)

Rock parody band Tenacious D found themselves at the centre of a global controversy after they made an “offensive” joke about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. And frankly, the whole saga proves Australia is a nation of cops.

Even those living under a rock will have heard that on July 14 local time, former president Trump had an attempt made on his life. Trump suffered a shot to his ear that experts have predicted could be career ending… for President Joe Biden.

In response, people across the ideological spectrum shared their thoughts and prayers for Trump and called for peace between the left and right.

“There is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy,” former president Barrack Obama wrote online.

There is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy. Although we don’t yet know exactly what happened, we should all be relieved that former President Trump wasn’t seriously hurt, and use this moment to recommit ourselves to civility and respect in our politics.…

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 13, 2024

That same night on the other side of the world, comedy act Tenacious D took to the stage to perform their unique parody rock songs. During the show, band member Kyle Gass celebrated his 64th birthday and blew out birthday candles on stage.

When comedian and actor Jack Black asked his fellow band member to make a wish, Gass uttered five words that would send the world into a frenzy:

“Don’t miss Trump next time.”

@martin.riggs.thefrenchie May have got to see the very last Tenacious D concert in Australia abd just hapoened to video the moment #icctheatre #tenaciousd #trump ♬ original sound – andrew daowlis

A few days and 12 billion Daily Mail articles later, their entire Australian tour was canceled, and both Black and Gass made statements apologising to those offended by the joke.

Notable offended parties included radio shock-jock Kyle Sandilands, who said the line was “some serious twisted sh*t,” and “free speech warrior” Senator Ralph Babet who called for the band to be Tenacious D-eported.

There is no place in Australia for those who wish for the assassination of others. pic.twitter.com/wuvgQxeeDS

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— Senator Babet (@senatorbabet) July 16, 2024

Which has me losing my little mind. When did Australia become a country that was so hurt by jokes?

I thought we loved making fun of politicians? We are a deeply unserious country, with a long history of mocking Donald Trump – so why did this joke become such a hot topic?

People were already making *that* joke, Tenacious D was just the loudest

Chris Taylor, a founding member and writer for Australia’s most infamous political satire outlet The Chaser, is no stranger when it comes to having his jokes become the middle of a media-frenzy.

“I’m happy to go on the record and say Kyle Sandilands has said and done things far worse than what Kyle Gass said, in jest, on stage the other night,” Taylor told PEDESTRIAN.TV.

“I’m sure Sandilands dialled up his level of outrage about this, almost out of not wanting to be out-wronged by anyone.”

Countless sketches and quips have landed Chris Taylor in hot water throughout the years, but even he was “bewildered” by how quickly the Tenacious D controversy snowballed.

“My take on it was that the outrage isn’t merited in this case. It was clearly a throwaway joke,” Taylor said.

“Tenacious D is a parody band, a comedy act. And if you listen to the audio it’s very clear that their audience understands it to be a joke. There’s no intakes of breath or gasps, it goes down very well.”

Taylor highlighted that the issue was not the joke itself, but the fact it was taken out of context.

Without the intended audience of people who already understand and follow Tenacious D’s edgy brand of humour, the joke is doomed to fall flat.

“These jokes, the only people they rile up are the people for whom they weren’t intended,” he explained.

I don’t know about you, dear reader, but when I heard that Tenacious D made their spicy Trump joke, it was not the first joke of that calibre I’d seen that day.

🚨 Lana Del Rey denies involvement in the assassination attempt on Donald J. Trump:

“I wouldn’t have missed.” pic.twitter.com/MAvLqY9Dhq

— Lyric Vault (@LyricVault) July 14, 2024

the very first thing I saw about trump getting shot at was this meme

and I thought it was a fake picture until someone asked had I heard what happened 4 hours later pic.twitter.com/76D34iyPx8

— chidi’s cowboy boots (@nonchalantnyny) July 14, 2024

Trump gonna go full Palpatine next week pic.twitter.com/w2y02cCB1w

— Old Greggo my Eggo (@HokageMarx) July 14, 2024

And you know what? I laughed. Go on, deport me, Ralph.

Taylor says laughter and morbid humour is a natural response to the current state of world affairs.

“It’s not just people who write satire for a living who made jokes. Everyone in their living rooms and workplaces all make little black humour as a coping mechanism; as a way of trying to make sense of the nonsensical,” he said.

“These jokes are never done with any malice or intent. They come out of the discomfort of not really knowing what’s happening in the world, and trying to laugh it away because that’s easier than grappling with the horrible reality — which is that America is incredibly polarised to the point that they’re now aiming guns at presidential candidates.”

Where Kyle Gass fell short was that he made the joke loudest.

And for the crime of verbalising the joke people were already thinking, the comedian was dropped by his agent, and Black announced the Tenacious D project has been put on hold for the foreseeable future.

At this point, the story has become so much more than just an “inappropriate” joke.

“The joke becomes immaterial after a while, it just becomes a fire that needs to be put out,” said Taylor.

Different tastes and preferences in the style of comedy are natural, and no joke is going to make all audiences laugh.Especially if they’re taken out of context and delivered to the wrong crowd in bad-faith.

But there is one factor where there can be no disagreement, as Taylor said:

“Where I don’t think there can be different views is that it was that it was a joke. I don’t think anyone thought it was an actual incitement to violence.”

The attempt on Donald Trump’s life has unquantifiable carry-on impacts on the upcoming US election, the future of America, the world, and democracy.

It is undoubtedly a serious topic. But if anything, that makes it prime material for comedy.

Let he who is without humour cast the first stone.

{Image: Getty]