Tom Morello Is Shutting Haters Down on X

Tom Morello has been pretty active on the X social media platform of late, shutting down haters and setting people straight on his music and his politics.

The longtime Rage Against the Machine guitarist initially shared another interaction of a person seemingly missing the point of the song in expressing to him their admiration for the classic track, “Killing in the Name.” That seemingly opened the door for others on the X platform to pile on Morello and his supposed politics before being set straight by the guitarist.

What Tom Morello Initially Shared

On occasion, Morello has used social media and interviews to reflect how the messages of his band’s music may not be getting through to some listeners who expressed their appreciation but not his politics. Back in 2022, he stated, “People who are offended by my politics on Twitter or Instagram, please know it’s because you weren’t intelligent enough to know what the music that you were listening to all these years was about.”

He then added, “”For the music, you’re welcome, but if you’re a white supremacist or a proto-fascist, that music isn’t written for you — it’s written against you.”

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On the X platform on Sunday (Nov. 3), Morello shared another instance of a person giving him an off base accounting of one of his band’s biggest hits.

“Never ceases to amaze me how many folks who’ve heard RATM are in Paul Ryan mode, having literally ZERO understanding of anything that band was about and even less understanding where any of us might stand on contemporary issues,” started Morello,

He then relayed, “Recently was talking to a couple at a restaurant who were big fans of ‘Killing In The Name.’ The nice lady said, ‘I love that song. It helped me rage against my parents and later against the jab!’ I said, ‘Ma’am that song is about racist cops who often behave like the Ku Klux Klan in service of historical white supremacy and are boot licking lackeys and thugs of the racist capitalist ruling class.’ She sat there chewing and blinking, chewing and blinking.

Response to Tom Morello’s Tweet

After Morello posted about his interaction, that led to a mixed bag of responses. While there were some going along with Morello and acknowledging the stunning lack of awareness that some fans have toward the lyrical content, others used Morello’s commentary as a chance to be critical of the guitarist and his politics, using the all too familiar “Rage for the Machine” jab.

One person who later deleted their tweet apparently presumed to tell Morello what “Killing in the Name” was supposedly about. The guitarist responded, “My brother. She can do anything she damn well pleases. She can cough covid into her MAGA grandpa’s mouth for all I care. But if she presumes to tell a fella who was actually in the room when the song was written what the song is ‘really’ about then I reserve the right to raise my hand and say, ‘no, ma’am.'”

Tom Morello Shuts Down Additional Criticism

As stated, a number of people on X used the post to then critique the guitarist about a variety of other perceived issues.

When one person noted that they felt people were critical of his stance on “the war machine,” Morello offered, “My stance on the ‘war machine’ has been unwavering since I was a teenager: Every US President in my lifetime has been a war criminal by the standards of the post WWII Geneva Conventions and if there was any justice in this world they would be treated as such and answer for those crimes. Again, when you just make stuff up based on bias and misinformation you’ll likely embarrass yourself.

Others brought back up a past argument about whether or not the anti-establishment Rage Against the Machine had required fans to be vaccinated to attend their reunion shows in 2022. At the time of the initial argument on the X platform earlier this year, Morello returned some of the criticism sharing that none of their shows had required vaccination.

When one person revisited the idea telling Morello, “God forbid people misunderstood it was against authorities forcing you to get the vaccine to go to your concert of fly to work,” the guitarist responded, “Perfect example right here. No sir, no one was required to be vaccinated to attend or buy a ticket to any RATM show ever. Feel free to check with any of the tens of thousands who attended. Blinded by presumptive bias and misinformation what other sacred tenets of your world view and opinions are perhaps based on total falsities?”

When another person told him, “I remember when you wouldn’t let people into your concerts unless they had the GOVERNMENT mandated vaccine. Way to work for the machine. Still like you though and your 100 yr old mom Mary is cool AF,” Morello responded, “Respectfully that is 100 percent false, except the part about my mom being cool.”

Yet another person offered, “Big fan of RATM as a kid in the 90s, but then I realized they have the same politics as every major corporation and I grew passed them.”

Morello responded sarcastically, “I’m encouraged to hear that every major corporation is now in favor of the workers seizing the means of production and an eradication of the prison industrial complex. Big news if true!”

You Think You Know Tom Morello

The guitarist also shut down a number of posters who had made presumptions about his politics. One person in particular initially suggested that he had endorsed Kamala Harris. The guitarist responded, “Not that actual facts make any difference in your bleary world view of bias & false presumption but as I’ve clearly said before, the only candidate I’ve EVER endorsed was anti-war Gold Star mom Cindy Sheehan for Congress in 2008.”

When the person responded back, “You’re voting for Kamala though, right? If so, you’re voting for the same candidate as Dick Cheney. If not, I’ll delete my post and admit I’m wrong.” Morello responded, “Delete your post, apology accepted.”

Another person commented, “You endorsed her bro,” to which Morello offered, “Swing and a miss!”

“I’m pretty sure I could guess 99 percent of where you stand on contemporary issues,” added one commenter. “I’d take that bet,” responded Morello.

Yet another person called out Morello as “Soros stooge,” referring to the liberal businessman and investor, to which the guitarist cracked back, “I miss him! Never got my damn check!!”