System Of A Down drummer John Dolmayan has addressed the fact that his political views are drastically different from those of the band's lead singer, Serj Tankian. Dolmayan surprised fans last week by writing several posts in support of Donald Trump, calling the former reality TV host “the greatest friend to minorities.”
Acknowledging both support and criticism from fans, Dolmayan said on Instagram, “We have differing opinions in System Of A Down. That shouldn't be a shock to anybody, because you have four individuals — we're not always like-minded and don't always agree on everything. But you'd be surprised at how civil our conversations are, especially between me and Serj, who seem to have the most diverging opinions on things.”
Dolmayan added, “I have a lot of respect for Serj and his opinions, although I don't agree with them very often these days. And that's okay. We expand each other's horizons — I like to think that he learns from me and I learn from him.”
Tankian, for his part, has yet to remark on Dolmayan's views, but said in an interview with the Side Jams With Bryan Reesman podcast last week that he was surprised to see some System fans taking issue with the fact that he expressed his political views in public and in his music.
Tankian remarked, “What I don't understand, and a lot of other people that follow the music say the same thing — they're like, 'Have you not listened to the f**king words in 20 years? He's been saying all this stuff through his music all this time. What are you, just dancing to it because it's groovy? You're not really getting the message?' And that's okay, too, obviously — people just like hard music.”
Tankian has said in recent days that Trump should resign following his handling of the coronavirus outbreak and the protests over the murder of George Floyd.