Music

Rage Against The Machine predicted Donald Trump's presidential run in 1999

by Jeremy Mersereau

Back at the dawn of the new Willennium, everyone’s favourite rap-rock act (in the no backwards ballcaps division, anyway) was Rage Against the Machine.

Who could forget the fiery polemics of Zack de la Rocha, the physical guitar wizardry of Tom Morello, and the competent rhythm section of Brad Wilk and Tim Commerford? This was a band that owned the year 2000 and its attendant MSN Messenger conversations with their bruising, funky, political, barely-grasped-conceptually-by-teens-in-Che-tees rock, but say it with me now: “They’re More Relevant Today Than Ever!”

As it turns out, that sentiment doesn’t just apply to RATM’s music: their 1999 video for The Battle of Los Angeles single “Sleep Now In The Fire” briefly shows a Donald Trump presidential campaign sign hoisted by a supporter. Lest you immediately jump to some kind of outlandish, Illuminati-based conclusion (or even the far more believable ), it might be worth it to take note that Trump did have a presidential campaign back in 2000, when he won the Reform Party’s nomination in their California primary. Still, we can’t rule out Rage having prophetic powers, not to mention their penchant for stoking Presidential candidates’ ire.

Take a journey back to 1999 below, and decide for yourself :