(Maire Clayton, Headline USA) John Oliver, host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight host attacked Lee Greenwood’s patriotic “God Bless the U.S.A.” during his show on Sunday and attempted to offer an alternative version starring former Saturday Night Live actor Will Ferrell.
Greenwood’s 1983 hit—which was used at the following year’s Republican National Convention to introduce then-President Ronald Reagan—has now become the preferred theme music for GOP nominee Donald Trump when taking the state at his rallies.
The British-born Oliver recalled hearing Greenwood’s tune while he became a U.S. citizen in 2019 and decided to bash the singer for accepting a $700 annual fee for the use of his song in the ceremonies.
“While Lee Greenwood has repeatedly claimed his song is apolitical, he definitely isn’t,” Oliver said, before turning his venom toward the 82-year-old Greenwood.
“Not only will we not charge the government $700 a year for it—we’re not assholes,” Oliver said. “We’ll actually pay them $700 a year.”
Greenwood previously recorded a variation of the classic tune for Canada, which Oliver stated “should never again be played at citizenship ceremonies because they deserve one genuinely unique to this country.”
Oliver claimed Ferrell was a “real American treasure” and showed the video featuring the Anchorman actor dressed in western attire as he exited a bar in a seemingly small town in the U.S.
Ferrell, who has actively campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris, faced criticism over a recent publicity stunt in which he disrupted patrons at a Texas steakhouse by attempting to get them to offer a toast to transgenderism.
His parody of Greenwood featured a list of stereotypical American things, ranging from “corn dogs and apple pie” to “NASCAR, rodeo, barbecue.”
“That stuff’s American, now so are you,” he crooned.
Ferrell added that the U.S. is “a real big country with real big problems.”
John Oliver is sick of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the U.S.A." being played at U.S. naturalization ceremonies, so he created an alternative—with help from Will Ferrell. pic.twitter.com/UnW7hFBVoS
— LateNighter (@latenightercom) October 28, 2024
Among the list of “problems”, Ferrell sang about preachers, non-renewable energy and security measures in schools.
He also slammed Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz and made reference to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, by calling it “the coup.”
He told the would-be new citizens, “Now that’s your problem too.”
After the video ended, it cut to Oliver as he drank from a 2-liter bottle of Mountain Dew as he waved a small American flag.
