Multi-Millionaire Guitarist, Tom Morello Took Time Be An 'Agitator' In Minneapolis, A City He Would Never Live In
34 days ago
Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello took his touring act of revolutionary cosplay to Minneapolis this week, where video footage shows the multimillionaire rocker hoisting “RESIST” and “ABOLISH ICE” signs at an anti–Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest and proudly declaring himself an “outside agitator” there to “stir up trouble.”
It was a striking performance, even by Morello standards. The man who made a career railing against “the system” did so once again—this time under a presumed second Trump administration in 2026—warning of “tyranny” and “racism” in immigration enforcement while posing for cameras and basking in the cheers of activists who seem blissfully unconcerned with the irony standing right in front of them.
Morello, whose net worth is widely estimated at around $50 million, was filmed theatrically clutching protest signs as if he were a broke college radical rather than a celebrity who lives in a gated community and has spent decades cashing checks from the very capitalist machine he claims to despise. In the clip circulating online, he embraces the label of “outside agitator,” a phrase historically used to criticize wealthy or out-of-town activists parachuting into local issues to agitate and then leave.
Social media users noticed. Quickly.
Thread replies beneath the video overwhelmingly mocked Morello’s activism as performative hypocrisy, with commenters pointing out that it’s easy to demand the abolition of border enforcement when you can retreat afterward to a mansion with private security. Others joked that “somebody check his walls,” a nod to the likelihood that Morello’s own home is surrounded by barriers he’d never dream of tearing down.
The jokes wrote themselves. “A millionaire communist telling working-class Americans they’re racist for wanting borders,” one user quipped. Another noted that Morello’s revolutionary aesthetic hasn’t changed since the 1990s, but his lifestyle certainly has. “Che Guevara merch hits different when you’re worth eight figures,” a reply read.
Morello’s politics have never been subtle. Rage Against the Machine famously drew inspiration from Marxist figures and revolutionary icons like Che Guevara, whose image has adorned Morello’s guitars and clothing for years. The band built an empire railing against American institutions, corporations, and law enforcement—an empire that somehow managed to make its members extraordinarily rich in the process.
