The needlessly controversial Senate Electoral College Certification is not one of the first placed we’d expect to hear a Foo Fighters reference, but Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar more than rose to the occasion.
Directly following Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s plainly misleading call for an examination of election results in several states, Klobuchar not only rebutted his comments, she called the senators objecting to the disruption caused by Trump supporters thronging the Capitol steps “coup fighters.”
Klobuchar, of course, was an author of the Senate version of the “Save Our Stages” Act which, as part of the stimulus bill, was recently passed into law, bringing $10 billion in much-needed funds to independent concert venues across the country.
In the New York Times’ live commentary of the hearing, correspondent Mark Leibovich cracked, “Klobuchar references ‘Coup Fighters.’ Political Nirvana!” His colleague Jim Rutenberg immediately responded, “They have a new album coming out.”
Foo Fighters founder and frontman Dave Grohl was a major supporter of the act as well, so the group’s name was likely top of mind for the senator.
Reps for the senator and the group did not immediately respond to Variety’s requests for comment, but they may have had other things on their minds: Unfortunately, Klobuchar’s words soon took on a weightier meaning, as Trump supporters breached police lines and swarmed into the Capitol, causing the certification hearing to be paused. “This is a coup attempt,” tweeted Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.
This is a coup attempt.
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) January 6, 2021
Klobuchar spoke with Variety late last month about how the enormous support from the music community helped to get Save Our Stages included in the stimulus package.
“It is very rare to introduce something in July and it passes intact, with more money, six months later, and I think part of that is we stuck together as a coalition,” she said. “We had red and blue states, people from country music to rap, from Pitbull to Lady Gaga, and it made a difference, because sometimes people get caught up in infighting and other things. Cornyn and I stuck together: We had each others’ backs and explained it to members — and the fact that we had 57 co-sponsors in the Senate out of 100 was extraordinary; we had over 200 House members on the bill, and we always made sure that it was bipartisan. So it was not about blue states — it was about our country and the music of our country, from small town to big cities.
“Another thing I liked about the way we handled this is it was all positive, we weren’t dissing people who weren’t on the bill, as sometimes happens (laughing). It was a very positive coalition set by the head of the group, Dayna Frank from First Avenue in Minneapolis — she just never gave up on the idea that we could do this, as a small business owner. We’re really excited that we kept this together — when we started, no one thought that the name of our bill was going to be in lights [on marquees], from Broadway to the Fargo Amphitheater, and it made a difference.
“And one more thing I learned: When you work with a group of creative people who have been forced out of work, they’re going to produce!”
Excited to see the “Coup” Fighters in concert. pic.twitter.com/yM1MpH0IdO
— Dan Levey (@iamdanlevey) January 6, 2021