Sep 24, 2025 - News

GWAR gets viral pushback for fake killing Elon Musk and Trump onstage

Sabrina Moreno

Cartoonish monsters onstage surrounded by mics. — GWAR during the Chicago concert that sparked the online controversy. Photo: Barry Brecheisen/Getty Images

Right-wing social media accounts are slamming Richmond metal band GWAR for chainsawing the head off an Elon Musk mannequin and gutting a President Trump dummy while onstage last weekend.

Why it matters: Critics say the stunts incite violence. Fans point out that it'd be hard to find a public figure GWAR hasn't mockingly killed in the past 40 years.

Driving the news: GWAR's performance at Riot Fest in Chicago went viral this week after Libs of TikTok, a conservative account on X, posted it, saying the band was promoting violent acts.

Another account called it "twisted and deadly."
But fans and the person running Riot Fest's X account have doubled down, saying the band has been known for such stunts for decades.

Flashback: In 2008, GWAR "beheaded" a Barack Obama-lookalike at D.C.'s 9:30 Club and then tore a life-sized Hillary Clinton doll limb from limb.

Moments earlier, they disemboweled a John McCain body double.
In 2016, they had performers dressed as Clinton and Trump. Both were gutted.
And they've been decapitating a Joe Biden dummy for years.

Zoom in: The band has also sacrificed popes, Queen Elizabeth II and Taylor Swift.

What they're saying: "The idea that GWAR is normalizing violence is patently absurd," lead singer Michael Bishop told Billboard.

"It's a cartoon, it's 'Looney Tunes.'"

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GWAR gets viral pushback for fake killing Elon Musk and Trump onstage

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