Ethel Cain Calls For Biden 'Assassinations': Everything We Know

Florida-born singer-songwriter Ethel Cain sparked controversy with a series of Instagram posts calling for "assassinations" in response to President Joe Biden's recent $1 billion arms deal with Israel.

The Context

The Biden administration recently informed Congress of its intention to transfer more than $1 billion in weapons to Israel. This announcement came shortly after Biden had initially paused the shipment of some heavy bombs to the country.

The proposed arms deal, which includes $700 million in tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles, and $60 million in mortar rounds, is subject to congressional review before final approval.

Cain has developed a cult following sine the release of her debut album Preacher's Daughter in 2022. Her music is known for blending gothic, folk, and rock elements and often explores themes of religion, trauma, and Southern Gothic imagery.

What We Know

The series of Instagram stories began with Cain reposting a post from the account Democracy Now, titled "Biden to send $1 billion in new arms to Israel". In the Instagram story, she wrote "we need to bring back assassinations."

She then posted a black square, tagging Joe Biden's official account. The message read "@joebiden bitch."

She went on to write "feel like i'm taking crazy pills living in america in this day and age. billionaires and politicians should be strung up in the street because what the hell is going on. and we can't even have a revolution because our terroristic military would crush us in a heartbeat if we tried to revolt."

The sentiments expressed by Cain have been echoed some online, who have been critical of a perceived anti-Palestinian stance by U.S. celebrities and politicians amid conflict between Israel and Hamas.

In another post on her Instagram, Cain wrote "I will always continue to say life is extremely beautiful and a gift but it's a gift everyone should be able to experience equally. And I know biology and nature and the universe is not always fair and some people take harder hits in life than others but we as humans should not be adding on to that misery."

She continued, writing "don't let yourself down under the propaganda and succumb to the apathy. We call ourselves an advanced species because of our ability to overcome our selfish nature and to do the right thing, and we should continue to try and do that wherever we can."

Newsweek has approached a representative from Ethel Cain's label for comment.

It's not the first time that Cain has used her platform to criticise political figures. Back in 2022, former president Barack Obama included Cain's song, "American Teenager" in his annual end-of-year culture roundup.

That song is a criticism of war and the U.S. political system and Cain appeared bewildered by Obama's inclusion of it on his list. In a comment on X, formerly known as Twitter, Cain wrote "did not have a former president including my anti-war, anti-patriotism fake pop song on his end of year list on my 2022 bingo."

Views

Cain's fans took to X to express their support for the singer amid the controversy.

One user commented, "wow ethel cain has been the most vocal artist in the mainstream music about Palestine. if only BIG artist would post this type of thoughts and help like she has been doing everything would be so different."

But Cain has also been met with widespread criticism for the post. One user wrote "honestly, I get where she's coming from. The frustration with the political and economic elite is real. But advocating for violence isn't the answer."

Some fans have also expressed concern for Cain. One user commented "she's real as hell but I'm lowkey worried for her" while another wrote "she's gonna get a fun visit from the secret service."

Newsweek has contacted the U.S. Secret Service for comment on Cain's remarks.

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