www.whiskeyriff.com
“Zach Bryan Wants To ‘Open The Gates’ To Criminal Illegal Aliens” – The White House Responds To Country Star’s New Anti-ICE Song
Did not have the White House responding to Zach Bryan on my 2025 bingo card.
Last week, Zach Bryan teased an unexpectedly political new song called “Bad News,” which criticized the ongoing immigration raids by ICE and bemoaned the “fading of the red white and blue” in a what can only be described as one of the most controversial unreleased songs in recent memory. And we haven’t even heard the full song yet…
The song starts out pretty typical for a Zach Bryan song, but ends with a quick dig at police officers:
“Didn’t wake up dead or in jail
Some out of town boys been giving us hell
I got some bad news
I woke up missing you
My friends are all degenerates but they’re all I got
The generational story of dropping the plot
I heard the cops came
Cocky mother******* ain’t they?”
However, once the song gets to its second verse, it dives into the political side of things. Right off the bat, Bryan took aim at the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). And towards the end of the verse, the country star reveals that the “Bad News” he’s singing about is the “fading of the red, white and blue.” He also mentions the polarization of Bruce Springsteen as a sign that the country is in decline:
“And ICE is gonna come, bust down your door
Try to build a house no one builds no more
But I got a telephone
Kids are all scared and all alone
The Boss stopped bumping, the rock stopped rolling
The middle fingers rising and it won’t stop showing
I got some bad news
The fading of the red, white and blue”
Unsurprisingly, the unreleased track has called an immense amount of uproar among both the left and right respectively. While many on the right are calling for a boycott of the “Something in the Orange” singer and criticizing him for being anti-law enforcement, members on the left are praising Bryan for his controversial stance on the administration’s current immigration policies. Of course, they called him MAGA when took a picture with Trump after the Super Bowl, and “canceled” him for being a terrible boyfriend to Brianna Chickenfry.
But earlier today, TMZ reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (the agency that oversees ICE) for comment on the new song, and Tricia McLaughlin, the DHS Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs, provided a short, concise clap-back on behalf of the department:
“Stick to ‘Pink Skies.’”
And the department issued another response to Bryan in the afternoon – while not directly responding.
In one of their now-famous (or infamous, depending how you look at it) videos highlighting the department’s work on deportations and immigration enforcement, DHS decided to use his hit song “Revival” as the soundtrack for footage showing immigration raids and deportation flights:
We’re having an All Night Revival pic.twitter.com/o7q8DExPra
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) October 7, 2025
Just when you thought the administration was done responding to Bryan, they followed it up another quote, this time directly from the White House.
Using not one but six references to different hits from the Oklahoma native, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson remarked that Bryan wants to “Open The Gates to criminal illegal aliens” in a statement to Newsweek.
“While Zach Bryan wants to Open The Gates to criminal illegal aliens and has Condemned heroic ICE officers, Something in the Orange tells me a majority of Americans disagree with him and support President Trump’s great American Revival. Godspeed, Zach!”
Clever.
In a year filled with altercations, ranging from the aftermath of his public breakup with Barstool’s Brianna Chickenfry to his physical altercation with Gavin Adcock at Born & Raised Fest last month, I think Bryan’s somewhat accidental feud with both the DHS and the current administration has to rank as the highest profile of his many controversies.
As of now, Bryan has yet to respond to the DHS and the White House’s remarks… and something tells me he won’t. He also turned the comments off on the original song teaser.
Stay tuned…The post “Zach Bryan Wants To ‘Open The Gates’ To Criminal Illegal Aliens” – The White House Responds To Country Star’s New Anti-ICE Song first appeared on Whiskey Riff.