--- title: Green Day Bille Joe Armstrong on Politics description: The rock band's Billie Joe Armstrong sees Harry Potter as a good role model for future generations to understand how to combat evil. canonical: https://time.com/4714252/billie-joe-armstrong-harry-potter/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-27T20:13:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:33.060Z og:title: Green Day Has Hope for the Future 'Harry Potter Generation' og:description: Billie Joe Armstrong thinks Harry's a good role model for fighting evil. og:url: https://time.com/4714252/billie-joe-armstrong-harry-potter/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Green Day Has Hope for the Future 'Harry Potter Generation' twitter:description: Billie Joe Armstrong thinks Harry's a good role model for fighting evil. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong on Trump: the 'Harry Potter Generation' Will Defeat Evil > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: J.K. Rowling Blasts President Trump Defender Piers Morgan in Twitter Battle [Watch (HLS stream): J.K. Rowling Blasts President Trump Defender Piers Morgan in Twitter Battle](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/DESCXTyX.m3u8) (0:37)  _Published 2017-02-11. J.K. Rowling dragged Piers Morgan via Twitter on Saturday, mocking the commentator as a “celebrity toady” for his defense of President Donald Trump._  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Mar 27, 2017 8:13 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Mar 27, 2017 8:13 PM UTC Green Day—the [punk rockers](http://time.com/4147920/rare-green-day-photos/?iid=sr-link2) who brought us 2004’s _American Idiot_ and the more recent [politically-charged _Revolution Radio_](http://time.com/4448642/green-day-revolution-radio-album/?iid=sr-link3)—have never shied away from taking a rebellious approach to the U.S. social and political landscape. But in a new [backstage interview](http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/green-day-on-trump-american-idiot-bands-future-w473166) with _Rolling Stone_, [frontman Billie Joe Armstrong](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1997442,00.html?iid=sr-link4) shared a somewhat more optimistic worldview. Although, at first, Armstrong did not mince words when it came to the current administration. “Bush, as far as I’m concerned, is a war criminal,” [Armstrong reflected](http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/green-day-on-trump-american-idiot-bands-future-w473166) on the era in which the band wrote _American Idiot_. “With Trump, we have no idea. Right now it’s just a freak show.” When asked about his kids’ futures (Armstrong is father to two [aspiring musician sons](http://www.nme.com/news/music/green-day-349-1192060)), he said he looks at them as the “Harry Potter Generation,” referring to [J.K. Rowling’s](http://time.com/4713730/jk-rowling-trump-kushner-slytherin/) ubiquitous, popular magical universe and its built-in lessons in morality and resilience. **“**There’s a sense of justice about that, in beating Voldemort,” he explained of the story’s [ultimate narrative arc](http://time.com/4607327/harry-potter-inspirational-quotes/) of overcoming the villain. “It’s a classic tale of good versus evil. To have a role model like Harry Potter that says you can defeat evil, but still be a complicated human being. That gives me a lot of hope.” Armstrong and his bandmates Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool are in the midst of a [giant tour](http://www.greenday.com/tour) that will take them around the world through the fall. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4714252/billie-joe-armstrong-harry-potter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4714252/billie-joe-armstrong-harry-potter/"},"headline":"Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong on Trump: the 'Harry Potter Generation' Will Defeat Evil","datePublished":"2017-03-27T20:13:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:33.060Z","description":"Billie Joe Armstrong thinks Harry's a good role model for fighting evil.","url":"https://time.com/4714252/billie-joe-armstrong-harry-potter/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","Music","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4714252/billie-joe-armstrong-harry-potter/","name":"Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong on Trump: the 'Harry Potter Generation' Will Defeat Evil"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"J.K. 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