OAN Staff Blake Wolf
6:37 PM – Wednesday, October 8, 2025
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem criticized country music star Zach Bryan over his new song, which appears to condemn U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign.
The country music singer teased a portion of the unreleased song, titled “Bad News,” on his Instagram account on Friday. However, as of now, Bryan has not announced a release date for the full version of the song and it remains an unreleased track.
In the brief clip, Bryan sings the lyrics: “My friends are all degenerates, but they’re all I got, the generational story of dropping the plot. I heard the cops came, cocky motherf***ers, ain’t they?”
“And ICE is gonna come bust down your door, try to build a house no one builds no more, but I got a telephone, kids are all scared and all alone,” it continued. “The bar stopped bumping, the rock stopped rolling, the middle finger’s rising, and it won’t stop showing. Got some bad news, the fading of the red, white, and blue.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary responded to Bryan’s recently released snippet during a Tuesday appearance on “The Benny Johnson Show,” describing the tune as “disrespectful.”
“I hope he understands how completely disrespectful that song is, not just to law enforcement but to this country,” she said on the show. “To every single individual that has ever stood up and fought for our freedoms, he just compromised it all by putting out a product such as that, that attacks individuals who are just trying to make our streets safe.”
“So, Zach, I didn’t listen to your music. I’m happy about that today. Today, that makes me very happy, that I never once gave you a single penny to enrich your lifestyle if you truly believe what that song stands for,” Noem added.
The official DHS social media account also seemingly mocked the 29-year-old country singer by posting a montage of ICE operations set to Bryan’s song “Revival” in a Tuesday X post.
The country artist later defended his song in another Instagram post, asserting that it was written “months ago” and was supposed to express love for the country, not take a political stance.
“I wrote this song months ago. I posted this song three months ago as a snippet. This shows you how divisive a narrative can be when shoved down our throats through social media.”
“I served this country, I love this country, and the song itself is about all of us coming out of this divided space. I wasn’t speaking as a politician or some greater-than-thou a**hole, just a 29-year-old man who is just as confused as everyone else,” he continued.
Bryan emphasized that the full song includes “more context that hits on both sides of the aisle.”
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