System of a Down's Serj Tankian talks "frustrating" ideological gap w/ Trump-supporting drummer
System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian and drummer John Dolmayan have both been known to hold outspoken political beliefs at opposite ends of the spectrum; Tankian leans staunchly to the left, while Dolmayan’s views, which include calling Black Lives Matter “a Democratic Party fundraiser and propaganda tool,” Democrats “the true bigots,” and Donald Trump the “greatest friend to minorities,” put him at a far remove from Tankian. Serj has spoken out before about their ideological differences, saying, “My drummer and brother in law @johndolmayan_ whom I love and respect irrespective of our extremely polarized political commentary and differences has always been my stalwart ally in efforts for recognition of the Armenian genocide within Soad. Now he’s returned to the topic in a new interview with Forbes.
Asked by Forbes whether it’s been “frustrating” to see Dolmayan, who, like Tankian, is Armenian, post so many pro-Trump messages on social media, Serj says, “He’s my brother-in-law and my drummer. Is it frustrating being politically opposite to your own drummer and brother-in-law? F*** yeah. Of course it’s frustrating. But that’s having to do with American politics. When it comes to Armenian issues we’re on the same exact page. We know what injustice is happening, we work together. We’re doing different auction activities and working together on many fronts. The Armenian nation is united, whether you voted for Republican, Democrat or neither.”
“But, I was a Bernie [Sanders] supporter, I still am,” Serj continues. “I feel like he still would’ve been the best choice going forward. But I’m okay with Biden. I’m happy that they’ve made that statement. The elections are coming up and normally I’m very vocal, but this war and the daily death toll has really taken up my full spectrum of focus.”
The majority of the interview, meanwhile, focuses on the ongoing violent crisis in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in Asia. The New York Times reports that, despite the announcement of a truce negotiated between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the weekend, fighting has since broken out again. “It’s a human rights travesty,” Tankian says. “You’ve got indiscriminate bombing of population centers and killing innocent people with cluster bombing by Azerbaijan in different cities and towns of Artsakh. They’ve also bombed Armenia proper in certain places. This is a human rights violation. This is a war crime.”
Read the interview in full on Forbes.