Grammy-nominated folk singer Jesse Welles brought his brand of political protest music to Jimmy Kimmel Live! Tuesday night, taking aim at the Trump administration, Silicon Valley billionaires, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a performance that drew cheers from Kimmel’s studio audience.
Performing his recently released song “The Nerd Reich,” Welles worked his way through a laundry list of grievances with Trump’s America, from the war in Iran and rising gas prices to anti-transgender rhetoric and the growing political influence of tech billionaires.
“I get weary, I get nervous / Ya hire a clown, ya get the whole damn circus,” Welles sang in the song’s recurring refrain.
The Arkansas-born singer-songwriter reserved some of his sharpest barbs for billionaire Peter Thiel, the surveillance technology company Palantir, and Vice President JD Vance, whom he described as “a carbon life form / Wearing khaki pants.”
But it was a swipe at Hegseth that drew the most enthusiastic response from the studio audience.
“Oh Pete Hegseth’s in trouble, his war got lost,” Welles sang. “Maybe they’re hiring war criminals over at Fox.”
Welles has become something of a modern-day protest folk hero, attracting millions of followers with videos of himself performing topical songs on an acoustic guitar, often standing in the woods near his home. His subjects have ranged from the war in Gaza and immigration enforcement to corporate greed and the Trump administration.
Frequently compared to Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie, Welles has turned his social media following into a burgeoning music career, earning four Grammy nominations earlier this year, including Best Americana Album for Middle.
Watch his Kimmel performance at the top of this post.
