Michael Stipe may have sung that he “felt fine” at the prospect of “the end of the world as we know it”, but his temper has obviously been frayed by Donald Trump, after the Republican presidential frontrunner used one of REM’s songs at a rally.

Trump walked out to the REM song It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) at a rally in Washington, DC, on Wednesday and the band seemed none too impressed to find themselves dragged into the political arena on his behalf.

“Go fuck yourselves, the lot of you – you sad, attention-grabbing, power-hungry little men,” Stipe said, in a statement tweeted by REM bassist Mike Mills. “Do not use our music or my voice for your moronic charade of a campaign.” Though the statement spoke broadly about “the lot” of politicians, Mills prefaced it with the stipulation that it reflected Stipe’s opinion on Trump.

Upcoming is Michael's statement about Trump using our song at the rally. His opinions are HIS, please do not tweet angry responses at me. — Mike Mills (@m_millsey) September 9, 2015

Personally, I think the Orange Clown will do anything for attention. I hate giving it to him. — Mike Mills (@m_millsey) September 9, 2015

If that message weren’t quite clear enough, the jangle-pop indie band had already posted an official collective statement on Facebook before releasing Stipe’s unfiltered opinion:

While we do not authorize or condone the use of our music at this political event, and do ask that these candidates cease and desist from doing so, let us remember that there are things of greater importance at stake here. The media and the American voter should focus on the bigger picture, and not allow grandstanding politicians to distract us from the pressing issues of the day and of the current presidential campaign.”

The LA Times once named REM one of the “most liberal and politically correct rock groups” in the US, and the band supported former presidential candidate John Kerry on the Vote for Change tour in 2004. The tour raised money for the two organisations that registered voters and campaigned for the Democratic party.

In the three short months since Trump announced he was running to “make America great again”, the mercurial real estate mogul has gone from strength to strength despite a number of controversies, any one of which, by conventional political wisdom, might have triggered a candidate’s decline.

The controversy appears only to have emboldened Trump, who is surging in the polls and maintains a strong lead over his Republican challengers.

Trump and his unorthodox presidential bid have so far survived a series of scandals that begin at the launch of his presidential campaign when he branded Mexicans who come to the US as criminals, drug dealers and rapists. The comments drew heavy fire from candidates on both sides of the aisle, incited international condemnation and cost him several business deals. Nevertheless, Trump’s polling numbers only improved, and, unabashed, he has claimed he is even confident that he will “win the Latino vote” (although polling does not back him up on that point).

Trump again courted controversy when he said that 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who spent five and a half years a North Vietnamese jail, where he was tortured, was “not a war hero”. Amid widespread criticism for his remarks, Trump announced the formation of Veterans for Trump, several of whom later told the Guardian they were not aware they had been enlisted to join the group. Again, his poll numbers continued to rise.

In July decades-old allegations resurfaced that the Republican presidential candidate had raped his then wife, Ivana, to which his attorney inaccurately retorted: “You can’t rape your spouse.” Trump distanced himself from the lawyer, and his ex-wife walked back her accusations.

Trump again sparked trouble when he provoked a feud with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, who questioned his record of sexist and misogynistic name-calling during the first Republican debate. The candidate bemoaned unfair treatment, and in a later interview with CNN, he insinuated that Kelly had asked him tough questions because she was menstruating. (He said the remark was misinterpreted.) Neither of these controversies seemed to negatively affect his standing.

Trump’s most recent insult was directed at Republican challenger Carly Fiorina, the party’s only female contender in the presidential race. During an interview with Rolling Stone, Trump was quoted as responding to an image Fiorina on the news by saying: “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?! I mean, she’s a woman, and I’m not s’posedta say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?”

Fiorina told Kelly on Fox News that she considered his remarks to be “very serious”. On Thursday, Trump said he had made the remark in a “jocular manner” and that he was not referring to her appearance. “I’m talking about persona, I’m not talking about look,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News on Thursday morning.

He then complained of a double-standard. “When I get criticized constantly about my hair, nobody does a story about, ‘oh, isn’t that terrible, they criticized Donald Trump’s hair.’”

While a recent poll in Iowa showed Republican challenger Ben Carson neck and neck with Trump, the first time in more than a month Trump was not leading every poll in an early voting state.

Nevertheless, average polling in the state shows Trump with a strong lead that remains in the double digits and a recent CNN/ORC survey Trump registered his highest national number yet at 32%.



This isn’t the first time a rock act have spoken out against their music being played at a political event. In June, Neil Young slammed Trump’s use of hit Rockin’ in the Free World, and Bruce Springsteen expressed his disdain at former president Ronald Reagan using his track Born in the USA in the former actor’s 1984 election campaign.