Dropkick Murphys frontman Ken Casey unloaded on President Donald Trump during the band’s rain-delayed headlining set at Boston’s Seisiún Irish music festival this past weekend. Mid-rant, Casey used the moment to throw his support behind Graham Platner, a Marine Corps vet and oyster farmer running as a Democrat against longtime Maine GOP senator Susan Collins.
Casey introduced Platner onstage before launching into the band’s new track “Bury the Bones”, praising him as “ready to f***ing shake things up for the better” and calling him the kind of voice the Democratic Party needs. Platner, 40, served in Iraq and Afghanistan and has been pitching himself as a millennial alternative to ‘Trumpism’ and establishment politics.
The Murphys have never shied away from politics, with their Boston shows often doubling as platforms for progressive causes. Whether Casey’s endorsement will move the needle for Platner remains to be seen, but the candidate just got a very loud co-sign in front of a packed New England crowd.
Casey’s speech is as follows (transcribed by Lambgoat):
It’s difficult to stump for politicians, but you all know by this point how we feel about that fucking asshole in the White House.
And one of the ways that America takes their country back, their freedoms back, is we put politicians like my friend over here, Mr. Graham Planter, all the way down from Maine, a fucking Marine Corps veteran.
And there’s the man, the Red Blue, called a hero. This guy is ready to fucking shake things up for the better. We need it. The Democratic Party needs people like him.
Anyway, for all the people that are speaking up, this one’s for you.
