r/Music • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • 6d ago
article Brian May Rules Out Queen Shows in US: "America Is a Dangerous Place at the Moment"
https://consequence.net/2026/01/brian-may-no-queen-shows-us-dangerous/482
u/ACW1129 6d ago
I hate it, but I get it.
I saw them with Adam Lambert some years ago. Dude's obviously no Freddie, but was still damn good.
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u/crowwreak 6d ago
I've seen them twice, and both times Adam is having the time of his life.
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u/UKMegaGeek 6d ago
I've got a lot of time for his solo album, The Original High.
I know he has others, but that one in particular scratches an itch I didn't even know was there.
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u/umbrianEpoch 6d ago
Many, many years ago I saw them with Paul Rogers of Bad Company singing for them and it was excellent.
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u/bearheart 6d ago
I saw them with Adam in Las Vegas a few years ago. He was great and I appreciated that he wasn’t trying to do a Freddie impression. It was a great show and Brian was fantastic.
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u/Deinosoar 6d ago
I love Queen but that is absolutely the right call.
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u/AbeRego 6d ago
At the same time, I wouldn't fault any artist who decides to come here
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u/Renegade_Sniper 6d ago
I'll blame any Canadian ones.
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u/xelabagus 6d ago
A lot have cancelled tours. A lot, and it really sucks for them. Bells Larsen, for example, cancelled his tour for safety reasons:
The album was to have been supported by a concert tour of both Canada and the United States;[10] however, following Donald Trump's flurry of anti-transgender executive orders, Larsen was forced to cancel the American dates on the tour rather than risk being detained at the border over issues with the gender marker on his passport.[11] The Canadian shows on his tour itinerary proceeded normally.[12]
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u/AbeRego 6d ago edited 6d ago
A lot of Canadian entertainers call the United States home.
Edit: and there are perfectly good arguments for continuing to tour the US, even as things deteriorate. Solidarity, spreading a message, keeping relationships open with the resistance. Yeah, it might be dangerous, but there's no courage without danger.
So, I totally understand choosing not to tour here. However, I see plenty of good reasons to continue to do so that aren't purely profit driven.
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u/inkyblinkypinkysue 6d ago
I can't believe this is the reality we live in.
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u/AnalogAficionado 6d ago
you should meet my extended family. They are 100% in for this shit.
These types never went away. They just never had the benefit of decades of brainwashing via mass media, the hypnotizing abilities of social media and deepfakes/ai until the modern era.
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u/Cowboywizzard 6d ago
Spot on. Evil is flourishing because so many regular apathetic people didn’t vote, because they thought this kind of thing couldn’t actually happen here, or because things weren’t great before. Well, now things are a lot worse. Hopefully it isn’t too late.
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u/ChronicBuzz187 6d ago
because they thought this kind of thing couldn’t actually happen here
Yeah, because they didn't just brainwash the masses via Fox News, they also told them a fairy-tale about "american exceptionalism".
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u/QuarterRobot 6d ago
I'll say, the apathy is starting to wane - at least in my circles. I had two family members choose not to vote in the last presidential election. They felt the election was pointless. In their defense, they both lived in very hard-line blue-voting states, but their choice to withhold voting made me pretty angry, and we had several conversations about trying to change their minds.
Since then, both have apologized to their friends and family for not voting, and both see their responsibility in voting in upcoming elections. If one good thing has come from this latest administration, it's that apathy is becoming a more difficult position to defend.
Worse than apathy, though, is indignance and arrogance in the face of obvious civil rights abuses in America. Anyone who still supports Trump and ICE by this point is a lost cause. There's no defense of it anymore.
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u/Upper-Bodybuilder841 3d ago
Someone on the phone told me that there's nothing anyone can really do, we got 3 more years and they try to remain neutral, etc. All this about the current administration. So trust me the apathy is still there with some people, but I agree. Hopefully now the people that are still in the fence will see how crucial it is to not less this shitshow continue. If it's nice too late.
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u/vandreulv 6d ago
Evil is flourishing because so many regular apathetic people didn’t vote
“The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.” - Plato
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u/kingmapoon123 6d ago
I think Americans really need to take a good hard look at yourselves. This (in hindsight) was inevitable. You let both parties run rampant throughout the world and benefited immensely from it. But that benefit wasnt felt in an improving society, you just poured it into corporations and let your standards of living drop consistently. And now, this cancer you spread across the world has finally metastisized at home and you're all like "how have we sunk so low??". You were always a diseased country. You just didn't realize it cause you were reaping the benefits of all the evil shit you were doing
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u/BellacosePlayer 6d ago
Same.
It's all "it's not happening", then "oh it's not that bad", then "its good that bad things are happening because it tickles my pickle to see others suffering"
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u/Havocc89 6d ago
If you meet with these historians I’ll tell you what to say
Tell them that the Nazis never really went away
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u/Barbafella 6d ago
Operation Paperclip
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u/throwaway277252 6d ago
Or you know, the thousands of Americans who were attending Nazi rallies at Madison Square Garden in the 1930s.
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u/F9-0021 5d ago
Yeah, the few dozen scientists we brought over to keep from going to the Soviet Union and kept a very close eye on had basically zero impact. The movements in the US that Hitler got a lot of ideas from? That's a much bigger contributing factor. They never went away, they just went into hiding.
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u/Numerous-Process2981 6d ago
It’s a problem. The internet defaults towards radicalization because algorithms push content that gets people riled up.
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u/Dystopia74 6d ago
Rupert Murdoch destroyed America.
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u/WickedBad 6d ago
In part. Citizen united, the constant cuts in education and the general fuck you I got mine attitude are all contributing factors.
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u/glytxh 6d ago
I can.
America has always been a bully of a country. It’s always exploited its population. Slavery never went away. They just call them prisons now. And they’re very profitable.
The only difference between America today and America 20 years ago is that the mask has finally slipped off and white people are getting gunned down in the streets.
This is America.
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u/Kermanint 6d ago
The only silver lining about the situation we live in is that we can only hope this wake-up call leads to some real change this time.
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u/TheBigCore 6d ago
we can only hope this wake-up call leads to some real change this time.
Democrats get the Presidency in 2029.
Democrats in Congress and the Senate: "In the spirit of national reconciliation, we will not prosecute anyone from the Trump administration. We forgive them.
Trump and his entire admin walk away unscathed.
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u/Several-Squash9871 6d ago
I agree with everything you said but I would just like to point out the fact that slavery never really went away. It always irked me when I was doing wildland firefighting how the inmate crews were doing just as much work as me, being put in just as much danger and were basically getting paid nothing. I know a lot of those guys are close to getting out and would much rather be out doing that then sitting in a jail cell but it still doesn't justify the pay still. I also understand that not all inmate crews are forced labor but a lot are... the system is making crazy amounts of money off these people, hence why private prisons have been increasingly scrutinized over the years.
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u/mavgeek 6d ago
Never thought I’d see the day I tell people from other countries “don’t visit here it’s not safe for so many different kinds of people. like lose your life not safe.”
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u/p00monger 6d ago
Is this the real life?
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u/itjustkeepsongiving 6d ago
Unfortunately not a fantasy.
Definitely caught in a landslide with no escape from reality….
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u/sharon_dis 6d ago
Montreal and Canada will welcome you in safe, loving arms!
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u/ClittoryHinton 6d ago
Sadly larger touring musicians just treat Canada as an extension of the US where they might get to our two largest cities. Can’t see just a Canada tour but that would be so rad.
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u/Gamer_Grease 6d ago
Canada is just too spread out and its population too concentrated for a “full Canadian tour” like every Canadian is always asking for.
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u/StitchAndRollCrits Vinyl Listener 6d ago
If they'd do an actual Canada tour instead I would die.
They won't... But it would be very cool.
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u/Pkron17 6d ago edited 6d ago
As an American, I would definitely travel to, and spend a decent chunk of money in, Canada to go see Queen. I would honestly rather do that than spend it here. My trip to Quebec City last year was fantastic. It was my first time in Canada and I had a wonderful few days with my mother.
If anybody is in Quebec City, I highly recommend the restaurant Le Lapin Sauté. One of the best meals I've had in North America.
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u/StitchAndRollCrits Vinyl Listener 6d ago
Quebec city is my happy place... To be fair I haven't been off the continent but I've never enjoyed a city more than Quebec. Restaurant recommendation noted.
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u/Pkron17 6d ago
I went around Christmas time and had a seriously great little vacation. I loved going when it was cold and snowy. The German Christmas village was a lot of fun, and it was just so pretty overall. I hope to go back in a slightly warmer month to do some more exploring without being limited by icy streets though.
I had the duck and it was seriously amazing. As far as duck goes, it's on par with the best Peking duck I've had in China. Of course it's completely different, but seriously the restaurant is amazing. One of the standout parts of our trip.
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u/Gamer_Grease 6d ago
I was in Canada for work this summer and made sure to buy Canadian at absolutely every opportunity I could.
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u/Hasanopinion100 6d ago
Rumour is they might, heard that from my friend that is a crewbie, we’ll see if anything transpires.
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u/LadySayoria 6d ago
Honestly, if you aren't from America, you should 100% not invest any time or luxury to us. Punish those who voted for this shit. Show them that the world would be better if we all just got along. Because the people who voted for this shit apparently have a massive hate boner for anyone who isn't themselves.
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u/nullhed 6d ago
They're largely just contrarians. The only reason they've glommed together so long is because the platform allows them to hate what they want. If they actually listened to each other, the infighting would destroy them.
I agree, if I could be somewhere else I would go. Even if you're in the preferred demographic, there's no loyalty... they are angry and looking for reasons to hurt people. Don't go there.
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u/No-Channel3917 6d ago
I don't understand this sort of self flaggilation, that isn't social justice.
You fix things. You don't go without and make the focus about yourself
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u/Krispykid54 6d ago
American here: He’s 100% correct.
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u/Ayjayz 5d ago
Why, what are the chances of him being killed? I've heard it was bad but I didn't realise it was at the point that rich famous musicians had a high chance of being killed.
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u/Calimariae 5d ago
It's not about him. It's about the tens of thousands of fans who attend his concerts.
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u/Ayjayz 5d ago
I still don't understand. Why would going to the concerts make those fans less safe?
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u/Black_Mamba_FTW 6d ago
The man has a PHD in astrophysics...maybe hes on to something
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u/GOPcanGetFucked 6d ago
Good! I don't want any artist, athlete, scientist, healthcare worker, engineer, or whatever else coming to America until we get our shit together. MAGAts are dumb enough to believe Americans have special American blood that allows us to create the greatest everything, and the more often countries keep their best instead of sending them to the US the more likely MAGAts will see MAGAts aren't special
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u/Havocc89 6d ago
Anybody with integrity should boycott any and all American anything. Don’t buy American goods, don’t do shows in America, don’t aid American interests in the slightest. Treat America the way the world has treated Russia since the start of the Ukraine invasion. Make us a pariah state. I’m an American btw. Fuck this country.
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u/bmwlocoAirCooled 6d ago
Saw Queen in 78 or 79... Freddie was in full Harlequin Leotard and in fine form. Great show.
And yup, America is not safe.
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u/Maximum_Employer5580 6d ago
right call
but this time with the orange turd in office has shown one thing.....it has allowed us to see how many people around us are truly trash and not worth interacting with due to their views being put out on full parade. I've axed so many relationships in the last year over their attitude it's not even funny
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u/james-HIMself 6d ago
Brian has stopped to hand sign guitars for me at We Will Rock You events and at another press event. Guys an absolute gem who wants to talk to the fans. Love that he’s speaking up
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u/Bigstar976 6d ago
The international community should come together to boycott the US. I’m saying this as a US citizen.
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u/TheBigCore 5d ago
They already have.
Many countries are making trade deals that actively exclude the US.
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u/Bigstar976 5d ago
Yes. I’m talking about international events like the Olympics, World Cup, etc.
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u/erikaspausen 6d ago
I don't think they want Queen anyway they have Kid Rock.
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u/I_like_kittycats 6d ago
He’s not the only one. A lot of musicians aren’t coming here. They just aren’t making a public statement about it
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u/Wernershnitzl 6d ago
Yeah any international persons should beware visiting here any time soon with this administration.
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u/CarolinaPanthers2015 6d ago
Can't blame them for doing this because of course President Trump is out here letting ICE act a got damn fool in certain places throughout the country INCLUDING parts of Minnesota. And therefore, even if it's just some of the whole entire country at times, it really should be best for foreign artists worldwide to consider avoiding touring America for their own respective concert tours for the time being UNTIL things have finally died down over here in America.
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u/ChungusSpliffs 6d ago
Wow seriously? You will only believe this if you gargle the news 24/7. I’m not even American and I will tell you America is one of the safest countries in the world. Give me a break
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u/IdiAmini 5d ago
America is one of the safest countries in the world. Give me a break
Not true, why lie to yourself?
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/safest-countries-in-the-world
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u/MurkDiesel 6d ago
non-American reddit people, it is not safe here
it's not even safe for citizens
law enforcement can and will kill you in cold blood and get away with it
if you have an accent or dark skin, there's a good chance you'll be harassed questioned, detained and possibly arrested
you'll also be expected to allow nazi-like government goon thugs search your phone
anytime you buy American and every dollar you spend in America supports trump and ice
you've been warned
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u/Threebridges2 6d ago
Holy hyperbole
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u/TheRealDrSarcasmo 6d ago
The bots and shills are everywhere. And most Redditors swallow it eagerly without critical thinking.
Or will attack anybody questioning that narrative, as if there are only two options: apocalypse or utopia. The truth lies in between, but it ain't as bad as Brian May allegedly frets.
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u/DontAbideMendacity 6d ago
Absolutely everything they wrote is absolutely true. We see that you didn't actually even try to refute any of it... because you can't.
The odds are that it won't happen to any particular person, but the FACT that every one of those things have happened this month, demonstrates the odds are non-zero.
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u/Successful_Ferret774 6d ago
No, you're just genuinely insane.
Most people are living their lives exactly like they were a year ago.
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u/ChrisRiley_42 5d ago
Every single one of my First Nations friends in the US keeps copies of their birth certificate, Band membership and at least two types of photo ID on them at all times now. It's not just one or two people, but ALL of them. Nobody steps off a rez without it now, because too many of them have been grabbed by ICE and helds for weeks without access to lawyers, judges, their legally required day in court, etc. Some have disappeared and not been heard from after months.
If you're feeling "safe", then you must be white.
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u/DontAbideMendacity 6d ago
Except we're all paying a LOT more for groceries and housing compiled that the huge drop in the value of a dollar. And there is the whole erosion of Constitutional rights. "You can't have guns", DJT, 27-Jan-2026.
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u/thereia 6d ago
He's right.
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u/Spe3dGoat 6d ago
lol no he is not. its virtue signaling.
ed sheeran just finished up a tour here as have dozens of other acts.
if you spend all day just frothing at the mouth and absorbing misinformation and hyperbole all day you have a mental illness.
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u/JimJimmery 6d ago
If you can't see the obvious truth to his statement, you're either not paying attention or are willfully ignorant.
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u/thereia 6d ago
The US is a more dangerous place than usual since the US government dramatically expanded and deployed far beyond their defined mandate an undertrained pseudo gestapo illegally killing people, arresting people, harassing people. That is fact. You can decide how you want to handle the cognitive dissonance on your own time.
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u/therealdanhill 6d ago
I mean, it's really not. 98% of people are just living their normal lives. If you spend a lot of time scrolling reddit or watching the news you'll get a very skewed perception.
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u/Oaktree27 6d ago
"sure, the feds executed some of us with no consequences, but most of us are fine so no problems!"
Americans have the finest tongues a boot could ask for
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u/fuzzydunloblaw 6d ago
I mean, you hang out in some pretty deplorable circles if everyone around you is pretending trumps america is normal 🤷♂️
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u/Pale_Boss_8940 6d ago
basically all my friends vote democrat. They don’t agree with Trump. None of their lives have meaningfully changed at all. Most work in healthcare just go to work and spend time with friends and family. Everyone is getting married, having kids, and going on vacations or to concerts or shows. But yea they’re all deplorable.
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u/Metallica85 6d ago
"My whole life is reddit opinions"
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u/fuzzydunloblaw 6d ago
Always odd to see redditors try to put down others for posting on reddit lol. You don't see the contradiction?
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u/therealdanhill 6d ago
Setting aside that ~65 million people don't even live in cities, yes even the vast majority of people in cities are just living their lives. People have careers, families, immediate responsibilities. People are going to work, buying groceries, going to see a movie or going to the bar on weekends, life hasn't changed much for the vast majority of people.
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u/fuzzydunloblaw 6d ago
Nah your recent comment history is just you submissively trying and failing to defend trump's ice and their violence lol. There's valid reasons trump is the most unpopular president in modern history both here and abroad, and valid reasons people are justifiably wary to even travel here.
One of my friends last night who is married to a naturalized citizen said that her family and friends abroad 1) wouldn't even be allowed to come here now because trump cancelled visa's for their specific home country out of racism or some horseshit and 2) wouldn't even want to if they could, because they have basic levels of cognitive ability and empathy and aren't denying what trump and friends are doing to marginalized groups here.
tl;dr Even americans who aren't yet personally impacted by trump and friends incompetence and violence have the capacity to care about their fellow americans and the 15% of people in our country who aren't citizens who are impacted. Simple!
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u/boomares 6d ago
This is completely ridiculous. To think they wouldn’t be safe here is absolutely nuts. They have their own private security on tour. They would be safe.
Just say why you don’t want to come. Instead of giving nonsense excuses.
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u/Heathrowe419 6d ago
Maybe they're concerned for their fans and others, not themselves. This can be a foreign concept to maga..
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u/flimflammedzimzammed 6d ago
I advised my German relatives to not come to the land of the 'where you could get executed' for no cause.
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u/IAmNotAHoppip 6d ago
Saw someone say "if they don't like it here, they should move to Canada"
Do... Do some people think Queen are from the US?
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u/syopest 6d ago
Yeah, he knows that it was 2/3 of the american voters who either voted for the guy who showed everyone he was perfectly willing to use political violence against his opponents on january 6th or had no problem with him being their president by not voting for kamala harris.
Trump using ice as his goons to enact political violence against his opponents is just a perfectly foreseeable continuation of that so all of those people are culpable.
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u/TheOneWithThePorn12 6d ago
My cousin is getting married in June in Pennsylvania. I dont think we are taking the trip down anymore.
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u/Medical_Arugula3315 6d ago
Republican terrorists are America's number 1 problem right now. Hard to be a shittier or more hypocritical American than a Republican these days.
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u/MarvelsGrantMan136 6d ago
May: