Mr. Skates Goes To Washington?

In a continuing assault on the life and career of President Barack Obama, 2016 Presidential candidate Donald Trump accused Obama of being the drummer for the metal band Overkill on the albums “Feel The Fire” and “Taking Over“.

In an interview with syndicated conservative talk radio host Jonathan Winthrop, Trump said “If you look in the liner notes at the first two albums they have someone named Rat Skates listed as the drummer.  That can’t possibly be a real name.  I believe that Barack Obama was playing drums on both of those records.”

This is another in a series of accusations made by Republicans that Obama is, in fact, a “secret metalhead”. The accusations started two months ago when Glenn Beck revealed that Obama was in a thrash band in Chicago while he was working as a community organizer in the mid-1980s.  Beck claimed that Obama’s band “mostly did Coroner and Slayer covers, but a few originals.”

Other reports have claimed that the band, known as Barry O’Death and the October Revolution (BODOR), recorded a demo but nearly all of the copies have been destroyed.  Various media outlets have contacted three supposed members of the group but no one has agreed to go on record about having played in the band.

Trump claimed last month that one of his investigators had gotten their hands on a copy and he had heard the demo.  According to Trump the sound was “very raw but pretty unoriginal.  They seemed to be trying to copy Exodus ‘Bonded By Blood’ on most of the tracks.”

According to Trump, the demo had ten songs on it with titles ranging from “Destroyer of Worlds” to “When Death Rides A Horse” to “Free Healthcare for Everyone”. Obama has never directly addressed the metal rumors but in his biography Dreams from My Father he does discuss being “really impressed with the first Manowar album, particularly the epic feel of the song Battle Hymn”.

Rat Skates on Tour With Overkill in 1981

Trump supported his latest accusation by claiming that the drumming on “Feel The Fire” was extremely similar to the playing on the BODOR demo.  “I have heard a lot of drummers over the years and this person who is supposedly known as Rat Skates plays just like Obama.  There is no way you could hear the song Blood and Iron and think it was anyone but the future President playing.  The styles are too much alike.”

Trump has encouraged Obama to come out and be forthright with the American people about his metal past.  “It’s not right that the President is keeping the American people in the dark about an issue as important as his taste in music.  If the President listens to thrash, death or even proto-doom, it’s important that the people know so they can make informed decisions.”