June 9, 2020
Watch: Randy Rainbow Follows 'The Bunker Boy' (a.k.a. Our President) Down the Rabbit Hole
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 4 MIN.
When they go low... we follow them right into the bunker!
That's what Randy Rainbow has done in the wake of the president's double act of spending the last weekend of May in the White House bunker, only to emerge June 1 for a little Monday night political football that included an attack on peaceful protestors in Lafayette Park, an action undertaken to clear a path so that Trump could manfully strut to a nearby Episcopalian church, hold up a Bible, and... stand there awkwardly for a photo op, offering neither prayers nor words of solace in the face of a nation's grief over the death of George Floyd, an African American man who died after a police officer in Minneapolis knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes while ignoring the man's please and, after the man went limp, paying no heed to the concerns of bystanders.
One of those bystanders took video of the deadly encounter, which sparked protests across the country. Opportunistic looters and extremists abused the moment, turning some cities into scenes of rioting and looting, while a militarized police response served to heighten tensions and intensify clashes. Police also seemed to target journalists for harassment and attacks, with about 200 instances of police targeting journalists fro arrest, intimidation, and rubber bullets being reported from across the nation.
It was during a Friday, May 29, protest in Washington, D.C., that Trump reportedly took shelter in a White House bunker. On Monday, June 1, Trump gave an address in the Rose Garden in which he spoke of "dominating" American streets in order to crush the protesters' dissent and threatening to impose military intervention on states where governors failed to do an adequate job of containing the protests. In the same address, Trump claimed that "Antifa" was one of the "leading instigators of this violence" - a claim for which for no supporting evidence seems to exist.
Calling himself "your president of law," Trump claimed that he was "an ally of all peaceful protestors," essentially at the same time that troops and police set upon the peaceful protestors in the park.
Some analysts speculated that the president's words and actions were directly related to his feeling stung by reports of his bunker time, even though such a retreat would likely have been mandated by the Secret Service. High-ranking military officers, religious leaders, and even some Republican lawmakers condemned the action, and out CNN anchor Anderson Cooper offered a detailed response on his program.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper further inflamed the situation when he echoed Trump's aggressive language, citing a need to "dominate the battlespace" - which, to most Americans, would be the streets of their cities - in order to quash unrest.
Trump later defended the police attack, sharing a letter on Twitter that referred to the protesters as "terrorists."
A day after that tweet, Trump claimed that he had gone into the bunker in order to conduct an "inspection" of the facility.
Randy Rainbow has dived deep in an effort to follow Trump to this fresh presidential low point, and in the process has resurfaced with a deep cut from "The Wizard of Oz" - a jazzy song and dance number that was excised from the 1939 film due to running time constraints. The song, "The Jitterbug," was written by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg in 1938, intending that it should be included in the film's slate of musical offerings. The tune eventually made it into stage productions of a musical version of the "The Wizard of Oz."
In Rainbow's hands, "The Jitterbug" underwent a startling transformation into a comment on the moment: "The Bunker Boy."
Beginning with a sequence in which he searches fruitlessly for Trump, Rainbow addresses the camera:
"He said he'd make the country great, at least that was his promise; and now that it's a mess you'd think at least he'd try to calm us."
Longtime Trump watchers might not have expected any such response from the president, anticipating instead more or less exactly what the president's response turned out to be, but Rainbow carries on, recounting a search for the commander in chief that includes driving by Mitch McConnell's house and checking McDonald's restaurants - all to no avail.
"Guess who's hiding in the basement - it's that coward: The Bunker Boy!" Rainbow croons. "Who's dividing 'cause it makes him feel empowered?"
"The Bunker Boy!" put in the Randy Rainbow chorus, a virtual group of backup singers consisting of multiple images of the singing satirist.
Rainbow went on to posit what sort of action one might expect from a leader in times of crisis:
"A commander in chief might address all the grief and what's happening out in the streets."
The Rainbow Chorus, appearing in wigs and red rubber-ball noses, glides into the frame at this juncture:
"But he's only a clown so he hides underground and he sits on the toilet and tweets!"
Rainbow went on to speculate on the bunker's amenities:
"I wonder if there's wifi and a special tanning station? I bet it smells like hamburgers and quiet desperation. I hear they had to childproof the bunkbed that they got him... Does he have a little ladder? Doesn't need one, he's a bottom."
Paying homage both to the son'g origins and the president's mettle, the Rainbow chorus reappear, now dressed in Cowardly Lion drag.
"Who's that brushin' civil rights off? It's our hero - The Bunker Boy!"
The rest of the song plays out in similar fashion, but the question left hanging in the air is whether the president of a thousand degrading nicknames for others might have finally earned an enduring sobriquet.
Watch Rainbow's newest parody musical video below.