Josh Groban sold millions of records with his rich, golden tenor, and he’ll earn thousands of retweets with his scathing political satire.
The “You Raise Me Up” singer quoted a tweet from Reuters on Monday that said the United States’ global image has plummeted under President Trump’s leadership, adding the caption: “Survey says….<studio audience chants> NOT GREAT!!”
Survey says….<studio audience chants> NOT GREAT!! I https://t.co/57EbRrfQ87
— josh groban (@joshgroban) June 27, 2017
Perhaps unsurprisingly, this made some of his followers very, very angry.
“I’m a Trump supporter! Very disappointed to read this,” one user replied. “I was a huge fan. Guess you’re just part of Hollywood elite now. Sad!”
I'm a Trump supporter! Very disappointed to read this. I was a huge fan. Guess you're just part of Hollywood elite now. Sad!
— RazorbackFan (@A80K88N97) June 27, 2017
Groban took the criticism in stride, tweeting a picture that he must have presumed would quell @RazorbackFan’s fury.
Is it more salt of the earth you're looking for? pic.twitter.com/r60DjYHmKW
— josh groban (@joshgroban) June 27, 2017
The disgruntled ex-fan fired back a few volleys, arguing for a while with Groban’s followers but getting no response from the singer himself. Another user tried (and failed) to get #BoycottJoshGroban trending, though Groban quickly eviscerated his adversary.
Political satire is American. Criticism of our leaders is American. Freedom (of speech) is American. Now go fuck yourself.
— josh groban (@joshgroban) June 27, 2017
That could have—and should have—been the end of it. But then Sean Hannity chimed in.
https://twitter.com/seanhannity/status/879791171916247041
New York magazine’s Yashar Ali helpfully noted that Hannity himself would have taken such accusations far less kindly.
https://twitter.com/yashar/status/879808315416596480
Thankfully, the multi-platinum singer kept his cool and tactfully shut down Hannity.
https://twitter.com/joshgroban/status/879800457031548928
He even schooled the Fox News host on the difference between journalists and entertainers.
And sometimes @FoxNews. Chris Wallace, Bret Baier, Shep Smith. News folks. Not entertainers like you and me.
— josh groban (@joshgroban) June 28, 2017
The moral of this story: Don’t mess with Josh Groban. He will raise you up, but not so you can stand on mountains—simply so he can send you crashing back down to earth with his 140-character barbs.