Kid Rock is firing back at critics who took issue with a pair of Army helicopters doing a flyby at his Tennessee mansion over the weekend.
The MAGA musician called the flights “harmless” and accused naysayers of suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome” in an interview with Nashville-based WKRN on Tuesday.
“We know the half of the country that’s going to love it and say, ‘That’s really cool. That’s great for the military,’” the Michigan-born rocker said. “And the other half that’s going to go, ‘They’re wasting taxpayers’ money.’”
The musician added that he’s spoken with military pilots at nearby Fort Campbell about how his Nashville-area mansion is sometimes in their flight path. He described Saturday’s incident as “not the first time they’ve flown over my house.”
“I think they know this is a pretty friendly spot if they want to come by and give a wave when they go by,” he added.
On Tuesday, the Army told The Independent it had temporarily suspended the crews involved in the incident from flight duties while it reviewed what happened.
Later that day, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the suspensions had been lifted.
“Thank you Kid Rock,” Hegseth wrote on X. “[U.S. Army] pilots suspension LIFTED. No punishment. No investigation. Carry on, patriots.”
Critics said the flyover was inappropriate, as was the Pentagon chief’s decision to intervene.
In a Tuesday post on X, Paul Rieckhoff, a veteran and founder of the advocacy group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, called the affair a sign of how “the dangerous politicization of our military continues to expand.”
On Wednesday, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington called on the Defense Department to investigate the flight and Hegseth’s decision to lift the suspension, warning that the incident appeared to be a waste of taxpayer funds for a “staged political stunt.”
“Secretary Hegseth’s choice to undermine discipline for apparently political reasons is especially dangerous as American military personnel are engaged in hostilities abroad,” CREW wrote in a letter to the Pentagon inspector general.
The Independent has contacted the inspector general’s office and the White House for comment. The Pentagon referred questions to the inspector general’s office.
Some on the right defended Kid Rock and the Army pilots, who flew two Apache helicopters near the musician’s home. The same helicopters appeared to fly over a Nashville “No Kings” protest on Saturday, which the Army said was the result of an unrelated training flight.
“The fake outrage over the choppers stopping for a minute on the way back to a nearby military base when [Kid Rock] was trying to show them support and appreciation is insane,” podcaster Benny Johnson wrote on X on Wednesday. “There is no reason to ‘investigate’ this.”
Others took the opposite view, arguing the pilots were avoiding accountability because they were tied to a Trump-supporting celebrity, rather than a liberal one.
“He has No business Micro-Managing Army Units,” Newsmax host Greg Kelly wrote on X on Wednesday, referring to Hegseth. “They MUST Discipline Hot Dog Pilots performing Unauthorized Stunts. Because Next Time something could go Very Very Bad.”
For his part, Kid Rock did not seem concerned about the fate of the pilots.
“I think they’re going to be alright,” he told WKRN. “My buddy is commander-in-chief.”
Kid Rock is a close ally of the president, and he has helped the administration promote efforts around healthy exercise and regulating concert ticket sales.
Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that he hadn’t seen the video. “I’m sure they had a good time,” Trump said. “Well, they probably shouldn’t have been doing it,” he continued.
“You’re not supposed to be playing games, right? But I’d take a look at it. They like Kid Rock? I like Kid Rock. Maybe they were trying to defend him.”
