If Axl Rose Were To Vote, He’d ‘Lean’ Towards Obama

The Guns N' Roses frontman says that California is never really in play electorally anyway.

  • Share
  • Read Later

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7gjUa1y99g

In Axl Rose’s first TV interview in a long time (It’s been more than two decades, notes Entertainment Weekly), the Guns N’ Roses frontman chatted with the late-night host about working as a manager at a video store and spoke fondly of making a Christmas-style Halloween Tree in his home  — nothing overly groundbreaking. But as is unavoidable given the impending election, their chatter turned to politics, and Rose revealed that he fits the mold of a certain type of California voter. You know the type: the “I’m not in a battleground state, so does my vote even matter?” sort of person.

(MORE: TIME Poll: Obama Leads by 5 in Ohio)

“Uh, I haven’t really voted,” Rose readily conceded when Kimmel brought up the topic. He later clarified that since California was such a blue state, he didn’t feel motivated. “Well, I’m in California and it usually leans Democratic. And that’s usually where I’m leaning anyway. Usually for the presidential stuff it’s such a landslide anyway,” he said during the 12-minute chat. (Watch part one, two, and three of the interview).

Kimmel, to his credit, joked that this was a teachable moment. “This would make a great ‘Rock the Vote’ commercial right here,” he noted of the rock star’s not-so-civic-minded sentiments. That seemed to prod Rose into officially making his sort-of endorsement. “I would lean Democrat, I would lean Obama,” the Appetite For Democracy rocker confirmed.

And there you have it. Judging by the enthusiasm of the endorsement, it isn’t likely that Axl will follow the lead of Bruce Springsteen and hold free concerts in swing states in support of the president. But maybe, just maybe, Kimmel helped convince him to head down to the polling station to cast his ballot on Election Day.

MORE: Late-Night Laughs: The 5 Best Comedy Clips of the Week