Ariel Pink and John Maus.
Photo illustration: Vulture, Getty Images and Shutterstock
Among the crowd at the pro-Trump “Save America” march on January 6, which finally made way for the violent siege of the Capitol, were indie provocateurs Ariel Pink and John Maus, who traveled to Washington, DC have, to attend it. Pink explained his role in the protest on Twitter. “I was in DC to peacefully express my support for the president,” he wrote in response to one user. ‘I attended the rally on the white house’s lawn and went back to hotel and took an afternoon nap. case closed. “Documentary Alex Lee Moyer, best known for her enchanting documentary TFW No GF (for which Pink and Maus provided music), posted a photo on Instagram of herself, Pink and Maus, in a hotel room marked Washington DC, according to screenshots before making her account private. “The day we almost died but had a good time,” she wrote. Moyer too film Mouse at the protest outside the Capitol. She later told Pitchfork she was working with Pink and Maus on an unrelated project.
Pink has long been known for making controversial comments on misogyny, anti-gayism and Trump. Days before the rally he tweeted, “Vote for trump.” After Twitter users discovered his attendance, he also tweeted over the false conspiracy that Trump’s election was “stolen” tried to compare the rally to last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests. Maus, meanwhile, has talked in the past about his left-wing politics, which apparently continues on songs like ‘Cop Killer’ and ‘Rights for Gays’. But he was also controversial for appearing in the Adult Swim show. Million dollar extreme presents: world peace, which was canceled for creator Sam Hyde’s ties to the alt-right. Maus never tried to distance himself from Hyde or the show, and told Vulture of those he met on the set: “Nothing to them indicates that they are paying alms to some blood cult.” He was also a longtime friend and collaborator of Pink’s; Maus defended Pink’s anti-feminist comments in 2014, claiming Pink was a nymphomaniac. ‘Mouse tweeted about a collaboration with Pink in December 2020. He did not directly address his involvement in the protests, rather cryptically tweet a 1937 encyclopedia on nationalism given by Pope Pius XI.