When Sturgill Simpson dropped his latest project as Johnny Blue Skies—the disco-inflected, politically charged Mutiny After Midnight—he embedded a joke that might’ve landed differently in someone else’s hands. On the album’s opening track,“Make America Fuk Again,”Simpson drawls a line that’s somehow both absurdist and oddly sincere:“I’m a sensitive boy when push comes to shove/I got that Hunter Biden energy/I’ll make a hooker fuck around and fall in love.”
It’s the kind of lyric that could’ve sparked real backlash. A presidential family name, sex work, and provocation all wrapped into one verse—the setup practically writes itself for outrage. But Hunter Biden himself? He’s not that guy. And more importantly, he’s been paying attention.
On June 9, 2026, Biden took to X to make it clear he’s a genuine Sturgill fan, not some opportunistic name-checker. He called Simpson“the greatest singer songwriter out there right now”and went deep—citing his love for Metamodern Sounds in Country Music since its release, naming“Turtles All the Way Down”as one of his favorite songs ever. He praised Simpson’s cover of Nirvana’s“In Bloom”as maybe“the best cover of any cover ever,”and talked about how Sound&Fury played in the background while he painted in the early days of his recovery. This wasn’t a reflexive thank-you for a mention. This was fandom.
When asked specifically about the shoutout in“Make Amerika Fuk Again,”Biden kept it simple and genuine:“By far the coolest thing to ever happen. Sturgill is my favorite.”
What makes this moment land is the sincerity on both ends. Simpson’s album is framed as a meditation on sex and politics as cure-alls, delivered with genuine conviction wrapped in freaky jokes and one-liners. Biden’s response proves he gets the assignment—he knows Simpson’s not making cheap political points, he’s making art about desire and chaos and recovery. And sometimes the coolest thing that can happen is when someone you genuinely admire notices you back, even if it’s in the form of a joke about having your“energy”on a disco-country record about fucking.
About the Author
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.
