Julian Casablancas, the frontman of The Strokes, has taken to social media to publicly declare his refusal to cast a vote in the 2024 U.S. election, accompanied by a detailed explanation of his stance. On Tuesday, November 5th, the vocalist posted an Instagram picture featuring a sticker inscribed with “I Protested,” a stark contrast to the usual “I Voted” sticker. In the caption, Casablancas shared that his decision had prompted a heartfelt conversation with his mother, who, despite agreeing with his stance, urged him to vote merely to prevent Trump's victory, invoking the welfare of his future generations.
"My wonderful, loving mother just confided in me, 'I agree with you, but please vote at least to keep Trump from winning. Think of your children,'" he penned. "While I understand and hold respect for her perspective of marginal, incremental improvement, I respectfully disagree that this is the path we should take... As I told her, my children are indeed in my thoughts. Both political parties are a mockery, a grotesque deception," he continued. "We are merely casting votes for the military, oil companies, and banks, while the media serves as their propaganda and entertainment arm. Given how they manipulated the election against Bernie, I see little significance in choosing between these puppets... They want you to believe it matters, ensuring nothing changes, but change is imperative."
Casablancas' post garnered widespread backlash from his fans in the comments, with many expressing their disappointment on platforms like Reddit. Notably, fans swiftly pointed out that Casablancas' bandmate, bassist Nikolai Fraiture, had shared his own early voting sticker on October 31st.
Earlier in the week, Casablancas also captured the attention of music enthusiasts when he spoke to The Guardian for their 'Honest Playlist' feature, promoting The Voidz' new album, Like All Before You. During the discussion, Casablancas reflected on The Strokes' discography, revealing that their breakthrough single "Last Nite," which reached No. 5 on the Alternative Airplay chart in 2002, is now a song he can't bear to listen to.
"The Strokes' 'Last Nite' is essentially dead to me. I'm not sure why," he admitted. "There are other tracks like 'Reptilia,' 'Hard to Explain,' 'Someday,' 'Take It Or Leave It,' and 'New York City Cops' that elicit similar crowd reactions, but I haven't grown as weary of them. If I heard them on the radio, I'd likely switch it off."
