Former Vicious Rumors drummer Larry Howe has newly spoken at length regarding his recent ousting of sorts from the veteran metal band. That departure came about as friction from his right-wing political beliefs began costing the band touring opportunities. Back in February of this year, Vicious Rumors began touring with a live fill-in after pushback over Howe‘s political views on social media began to cause issues with promoters and venues the band were booked at.
In April of this year, Howe resigned from the band over the matter, blaming “cancel culture” and “leftist ideologues who capitulate to globalism.” Speaking now with Hart O’ The Matter, Howe explained his political stances below [transcribed by Blabbermouth.net]:
“I was a patriot way before [U.S. president Donald] Trump ever came on the scene. For people, all these people infected with this TDS [Trump Derangement Syndrome], it’s just insane. They just believe the stupidest things. I saw it in California happening, the rampant illegal immigration.
I was hoping [actor and former California governor Arnold] Schwarzenegger was gonna stop that, but no, he didn’t. He’s another globalist. And that stuff just went crazy. And the crime of illegals, and protecting them. I couldn’t believe it. You know, Kamala Harris… she let cop killers free because of this stupid sanctuary city crap. So, yeah, I go online, and I post a few memes here and there, showing my support for our president and ICE.”
Howe went on to blame a German publication for a piece involving his beliefs as fundamental in leading to his exit from the band. Numerous stops of the group’s early 2026 European touring were canceled due to controversy over Howe‘s political opinions and resulting social media posts. Howe stated of that:
“A lot of these Germans, they’re very ‘woke’ today because they believe… They’re still in 2016 state of mind. You know, ‘Oh, Trump‘s a pedophile,’ blah, blah, blah. ‘Russia, Russia, Russia.’ They believe all the low-hanging fruit off the dumbass tree. They’re just sucking it right up. And I just don’t understand it.
It boggles my mind. I lost a lot of friends because of it, ’cause they’re just all on board with it. They’re, like, ‘Oh, yeah.’ They’re calling Trump a felon. But you’re going along with a crooked court. It was a corrupt system. They changed laws. They changed rules to make that happen. And so people going along with a corrupt court is supposed to be okay? I just can’t believe the crap going on today. And so I talk about it.”
He continued:
“Geoff‘s [Thorpe, Vicious Rumors guitarist/vocalist] been yelling at me for years: ‘Larry, shut up. We gotta sell T-shirts to liberals, too.’ And I get that, but I got kids. I live on this planet. I hate seeing the corruption happen, and I say something about it. And these Germans just are all pissed off at me saying, ‘Oh, Larry supports ICE. He’s a fascist.’ I have people in my DMs hassling me. They’re just, like, ‘You’re a fascist.’ I’m, like, ‘Well, give me one example. Name something fascist.’ They could never answer these questions ’cause they’re wrong and they believe lies.
And I don’t shut up about it. What can I say? And so a [German] magazine came out, Deaf Forever. They put an article, a hit piece out on me last year, I think around near the mid or end of the year, and it really highlighted… They threw me under the bus, Frank [Gilchriest] from Riot. They even talked about Warlord [featuring ex-Fates Warning drummer Mark Zonder] — they got canceled from the Rock Hard Festival. The three metal MAGA drummers driving these woke, spineless Germans’ nuts, and it was all in Germany.
So Germany canceled eight shows for the European tour, and Geoff‘s losing his mind. And I’m, like, ‘Dude, what can I say?’ Their country’s [Germany] falling apart. They’re all on board with it. I’ve watched it happen there, too. I’ve been going there over 30 frigging years. I’ve seen the inundation of the rampant immigration. It’s the globalism.
They want to blend the lower hemisphere. They’re going to blend the Southern Hemisphere with the Northern Hemisphere to bring on globalism, and I see it happening. It’s not just a conspiracy. No, it’s really happening. When you see it happen in real time, you can’t shut up about it, and that’s me. Maybe if I made a lot of money and sold my soul to the devil and got really rich and famous, I would shut up about it, but then I’d be at a Lady Gaga party eating babies. So that’s not me.
I’m just little old Larry, and I’ve always been a patriot. What can I say? So anyways, Germany cancels five or six, seven shows, and Geoff‘s like, ‘What are we doing, man? I can’t handle this.’ He goes, he tells me, ‘I’ll make you an offer. You can stay with the band if you pay them 5,000 bucks,’ to make up for the lost shows. So they have a lot of time off now.”
