Australian politician demands Tenacious D be deported over Trump joke

Kyle Gass (left) and Jack Black of Tenacious D.

Jeff Hahne/Getty Images

An Australian politician has called for comedy rock band Tenacious D, made up 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 shared widely 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 before blowing out the candles says “Don’t miss Trump next time” to laughter and applause from the Sydney crowd.

United Australia Party leader Senator Ralph Babet called on social media Monday night for Tenacious D to be deported over the tasteless joke. In a press release, Babet said Glass’ comments were not a joke and called on Australian Immigration Minister Andrew Giles to “revoke their visas.”

Babet added: “Any action short of expulsion would be an endorsement of the shooting and attempted assassination of Donald J. Trump.”

Tenacious D still has four dates remaining on his Australian tour, including concerts in Newcastle, Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide.

Babet has spoken out against censorship before. In February, the senator found himself at the centre of a political firestorm in Australia for sharing graphic footage of a stabbing, which the Australian government ordered X, formerly Twitter, to remove due to the violent and distressing nature of the footage.

After Australian courts upheld an injunction banning the publication of footage of the stabbing, Babet tweeted the shocking footage twice on his X account. “Without freedom of speech our nation will fall,” he later tweeted.