It’s no secret that Dropkick Murphys are extremely pro-union. Along with having a strong bond with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the group has pledged that all of their fan merchandise is 100% made in America in an effort to support American workers and businesses. So when frontman Ken Casey spotted a fan adorned in Trump merchandise at a Florida concert last week, he made a bet that his shirt wasn’t made in the US.
On March 10th, the Celtic punk band played a show in Clearwater, Florida, where Casey offered a wager to a fan “in the name of dialog and discourse” wearing a Make American Great Again shirt. If his MAGA shirt was made in the United States, Casey would give the fan a Dropkick Murphys shirt, plus $100. If it wasn’t, then the fan would give Casey his shirt.
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The big reveal? It turns out the MAGA merchandise was manufactured in Nicaragua, after security checked the clothing’s tags, which was met with an uproar from the crowd. The fan then removed his shirt and traded it with a Dropkick Murphys t-shirt, Casey calling him a “good sport.”
Donald Trump has made a point to run his campaigns and presidencies on an America First platform; which is to say he vows to support American businesses and jobs over international trade and overseas manufacturing. Though it has yet to be fact-checked if the fan’s merch was bought from Trump’s official shop, the fan sporting Nicaraguan-made regalia is all the more ironic. The original video posted by Nick Klingensmith has reached over 2.5 million views on Instagram alone.
“They were longtime fans who wanted to let us know they disagree with our politics, but they were respectful,” Casey told NewsWeek. “After the concert, the gentleman actually said, ‘Dropkicks are family and I don’t let politics come between family,’ which I was pleasantly surprised by.”
Casey and the Dropkick Murphys have made it evident that they aren’t fans of Trump and his policies. Their song “Chosen Few” openly criticized his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and has often dedicated “First Class Loser” to the 45th/47th president during concerts. The band has also released merch that includes a t-shirt that says, “Fighting Nazis since 1996.”
On Monday, Dropkick Murphys will play their annual St. Patrick’s Day concert in Boston (it’ll also be available to stream online). The band will then head out on a co-headlining summer tour with Bad Religion (get tickets here).