Among the crowd at the pro-Trump “Save America†rally on January 6, which eventually gave way to the violent siege of the Capitol, were indie provocateurs Ariel Pink and John Maus, who traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend. Pink clarified his role in the rally on Twitter. “i was in dc to peacefully show my support for the president,†he wrote in response to one user. “i attended the rally on the white house lawn and went back to hotel and took a nap. case closed.†Documentarian Alex Lee Moyer, known for her incel-sympathizing documentary TFW No GF (for which Pink and Maus provided music), posted a photo to Instagram of herself, Pink, and Maus in a hotel room, tagged to Washington D.C., according to screenshots taken before she made her account private. “the day we almost died but instead had a great time,†she captioned. Moyer also filmed Maus at the rally outside the Capitol. She later told Pitchfork she was working with Pink and Maus on an unrelated project.
Pink has long been known for making controversial misogynist, anti-gay, and Trump-defending comments. Days before the rally, he tweeted, “vote for trump.†After Twitter users discovered his attendance, he also tweeted about the false conspiracy that the election was “stolen†from Trump and attempted to compare the rally to last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests. Maus, meanwhile, has spoken in the past about his left-wing politics, which seemingly come through on songs like “Cop Killer†and “Rights for Gays.†But he has also courted controversy for performing on the Adult Swim show Million Dollar Extreme Presents: World Peace, which was canceled for creator Sam Hyde’s ties to the alt-right. Maus never attempted to distance himself from Hyde or the show, telling Vulture of those he met on set, “Nothing about them suggested that they paid alms to some cult of blood.†He has also been a longtime friend and collaborator of Pink’s; Maus defended Pink’s anti-feminist comments in 2014 by claiming Pink was “a nymphomaniac.†Maus tweeted about a collaboration with Pink in December 2020. He has not directly addressed his involvement in the protests, instead cryptically tweeting a 1937 encyclical on nationalism given by Pope Pius XI.