JACKYL's JESSE JAMES DUPREE: 'I'm Ashamed Of The Fact That The Country Has Allowed Itself To Get So Polarized'

During a recent appearance on Shawn SixX's podcast "The Liquid Conversations", JACKYL singer Jesse James Dupree touched upon his views on the current climate of political divisiveness in the U.S. He said (hear audio below): "I'll be honest with you: I was a huge fan of Bill Clinton — not because of the politics side; I just loved his charisma. And plus, in the spirit of rock and roll, he's the only one that ever really used the Oval Office for the one thing that I thought it was good for — he was gettin' some action.

"All joking aside, I'm a fan of these guys that know how to lead. And I was a huge fan of [Barack] Obama's charisma — I was in awe of his ability to motivate," he continued. "But, again, that's not from a political standpoint. And [Donald] Trump is hands down, he's the damnedest animal when it comes to — he knows how to market; I mean, obviously, he does. But he's tapped in to a time in America to where we've all adopted that WWE wrestling mentality, and everybody has gotten so polarized.

"I'm ashamed of the fact that the country has allowed itself to get so polarized — whether you're liking the far left or the far right. Because let me tell you something — none of the goobers on the left that are all about abortions and all about gay rights and all that, and all the people on the right against it, they've all got their own personal views and stuff. They're just part of a fraternity.

"This is what I don't know — what I don't know is there must be some hellacious prize that we can't see, that's up for grabs, for them to be beatin' each other up, because they don't care that much about these points; they just don't. I ain't saying they don't care at all; I'm just saying they don't care to the extent that they should be ripping us apart. There must be some golden ring that we don't know about that's out there."

Three and a half years ago, Dupree made headlines when he spoke out against musical artists who publicize their political views, saying that voicing opinions on such issues is "so totally anti-rock." He said at the time: "I'll leave it up to Bono [U2] and Bruce Springsteen to write the songs that'll actually cure cancer — at least they think that it does anyway. I mean, I do my share of charity motorcycle rides and we do our charitable stuff, but some of those guys have holier-than-thou opinions of what the hell they do, and they forget that rock and roll was built on two guitars, bass and drums and a beat. So we just stay true to that."

Dupree went on reiterate the fact that part of JACKYL's appeal lies in the band's stripped-down, no-nonsense approach. He said: "People don't wanna hear politics from JACKYL. At the end of the day, I'm just in a rock and roll band. But my stance is not necessarily politics; it's more or less to tell Bono and Bruce Springsteen, 'Shut your fucking mouths, you fucking self-indulgent cocksuckers. Bruce Springsteen standing there, rattling off about Trump… We've got two poor choices this year as far as [presidential candidates go]… but again, I don't need to hear it from Bruce Springsteen. Bruce just needs to sing fucking 'Born To Run' and shut the fuck up. And if he don't like me saying that, Bruce, I live in Kennesaw, Georgia. I'd be glad to meet up with you anytime. Fuck you! And I like some of the Bruce Springsteen songs… for a minute. I mean, I'm not slagging on Bruce Springsteen or his fans. But I'm saying, I don't wanna hear him talk about politics."

JACKYL's latest album, "Rowyco", was released in August 2016 via Mighty Loud Records.