A rather one-sided feud between Zach Bryan and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) erupted last week over a snippet of his unreleased song “Bad News,” which makes a sardonic comment about “ICE busting down your door,” in reference to the recent heightened deportation efforts under the Trump administration. It quickly escalated into public backlash, official clapbacks, and social media trolling by the government. Though Zach Bryan himself has yet to comment since sharing the snippet of “Bad News,” there has been no shortage of discourse around his intentions with the song.
Below is a chronological breakdown of key events, based on comments and posts surrounding the song:
- October 3rd: Zach Bryan posts a 30-second Instagram snippet of his unreleased song “Bad News” with lyrics criticizing ICE tactics: “And ICE is gonna come bust down your door / Try to build a house, no bills no more, well 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 / Got some bad news / The fading of the red, white and blue.” He captions it with the final line, sparking debate.
- October 5th: White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson comments in a Newsweek interview, using Bryan’s song titles in a jab: “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.’”
- October 7th (Morning): DHS Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin tweets that Bryan should “Stick to ‘Pink Skies’,” referencing his 2024 hit.
- October 7th (Afternoon): DHS posts a 33-second video on its social media channels showing ICE raids and deportation flights set to Bryan’s 2019 hit “Revival.” The caption reads: “We’re having an All Night Revival.”
- October 7th (Evening): Zach Bryan responded to the recent discourse with the following statement:
I wrote this song months ago and posted a snippet of it three months ago. This shows how divisive a narrative can be when it’s shoved down our throats through social media. This song is about how much I love this country and everyone in it more than anything. When you hear the rest of the song, you’ll understand the full context that touches on both sides of the aisle. Everyone using this now as a weapon is only proving how devastatingly divided we all are. We need to find our way back.
I served this country, and I love this country. The song itself is about all of us coming out of this divided space. I wasn’t speaking as a politician or some holier-than-thou jerk—just a 29-year-old man who’s as confused as everyone else. To see how much controversy it stirred up makes me not only embarrassed but also kind of scared.
Left wing or right wing, we’re all one bird and American. To be clear, I’m on neither of these radical sides. To all those disappointed in me on either side of whatever you believe in, just know I’m trying my best too, and we all say things that are misconstrued sometimes. Everyone, have a great day, and I love each and every one of you!
