Kyle Gass (left) and Jack Black of Tenacious D.
Jeff Hahne/Getty Images
An Australian politician has called for comedy rock band Tenacious D, consisting of Jack Black and Kyle Gass, to be deported from the country after a band member made a comment about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
On Sunday, in footage widely shared on social media, Tenacious D was on stage in Sydney as Black and a “robot” presented Gass with a birthday cake. In the clips, Black can be heard saying “Make a wish” to Gass, who then says “Don’t miss Trump next time” before blowing out the candles, prompting laughter and applause from the Sydney crowd.
Senator Ralph Babet, leader of the United Australia Party, took to social media on Monday night to demand that Tenacious D be deported over the bad taste joke. In a press release, Babet claimed that Glass’ comments were not a joke and called on Australian Immigration Minister Andrew Giles to “revoke their visas.”
Babet added: “Anything less than a deportation is an endorsement of the shooting and attempted assassination of Donald J. Trump.”
Tenacious D have four dates left on the Australian leg of their tour, including shows in Newcastle, Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide.
Babet has criticized censorship before. In February, the senator was at the center of a political storm in Australia for re-sharing graphic footage of a stabbing incident that the Australian government had ordered X, formerly Twitter, to remove due to the violent and disturbing nature of the footage.
After Australian courts upheld an order not to post clips of the stabbing, a defiant Babet tweeted the graphic footage twice to his X account. “Without freedom of speech our nation will perish,” he later tweeted.