Sloppy Scales derisively and decisively dumps on Trump in his audacious and hilarious new video — premiering exclusively on Tinnitist.
Proving once and for all that it takes a clown to take down a clown, rodeo entertainer-turned-musical satirist Scales pulls no punches in this colourful clip for his recent single (and the latest preview of his upcoming album). With biting wit and swagger, Scales skewers the former / future president in a sharp, swanky slam that mixes comedy with searing social commentary. Set to jazzy horns and fueled by devilish charm, the Chicago blues number takes aim at everything from Trump’s looks and legacy to his laundry list of offences:
“Just a mean old man with tiny tiny hands
Tiny tiny hands all on your mammary glands
No consent? Ma’am he don’t care
He’s a billionaire with orange skin and hair…
Steals state secrets with impunity
Election crimes enjoy immunity
Insult your wife and threaten your life
Destroy unity in your community
Trump!”
It’s a bold, unapologetic roast wrapped in irresistible swagger, reminding you that satire can be both musical and meaningful. The video doubles down on the ridicule, turning political critique into a carnival. Against cartoonish Southwestern backdrops, Scales parades through surreal scenarios, riding trikes, toy horses and unicycles — all while spotlighting Trump’s buffoonery. Women dance as a Trump-masked Scales pops out of a trash can, tossing money in the air. It’s equal parts absurd and biting, with Scales playing a toy saxophone, juggling and mugging for the camera. The video’s final image, with Scales-as-Trump stuck headfirst in a garbage barrel, feels like a punchline for a new era of chaos and incompetence.
Scales’ satire lands in a political landscape still reeling from election aftershocks. As debates over immigration, democracy, and justice dominate headlines, Trump feels both timely and necessary. In an age where comedy often serves as a coping mechanism, Scales uses humour as a weapon, shining a spotlight on issues that remain unresolved. His blend of theatricality and razor-sharp critique underscores the absurdity of modern politics while reminding us of the ongoing need for accountability — with a bit of laughter in the face of it all. And there’s plenty more where that came from on his upcoming debut album This Machine Mocks Fascists: The Sloppy Scales Songbook. Due Dec. 20, it offers a hysterical, musically diverse bulldogging of America’s far-right politics.
Scales — who has traveled the world, but now calls Atlanta his home — is a great songwriter, but terrible musician (hence his name). So he assembled a crack team of musicians to help him record the album, including Rafael Pereira (Janelle Monae, PJ Morton), Guilherme Shakespeare (Rock*A*Teens, Os Ossos), Daniel Wytanis (Ghost-Note, KEM), Cleidinilson “Chocolate” Costa, and singers Mr. Maph, Skye Doughty, Natalye Woodson and Bret Busch.
This Machine Mocks Fascists is modern sad-clown music. It mirrors the humanist perspective of Woody Guthrie, while charting Scales’ whimsically tragic biographical odyssey to this collection of songs. And, of course, it’s a scathing and inflammatory takedown of radically conservative, bigoted and ultra-nationalist politics. He takes particular aim at Trump, the MAGA movement, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and the racist, xenophobic and fear-mongering elements that have become the norm in our modern politics.
Scales comes from entertainment royalty — he’s the grandson of Hee-Haw and Grand Ole Opry cornball Minnie Pearl AND one of Mexico’s greatest comedians, the 1940s filmmaking pioneer Cantinflas. His grandparents’ irreverent and homespun senses of humour left Scales with a sharp-tongued but whimsical style steeped in cowboy chords, Afro-Latin syncopation and the rebellious spirit of his adolescent garage bands.
Scales got his start when his grandfather took him to a circus casting call at just five years old. Bit by the showbiz bug, he practised singing, dancing, acrobatics and music. He eventually made a name for himself as a rodeo clown in Wild West shows. Before his death, Cantinflas told Scales he should use his talents to “invent melodies and words to satirize the politically corrupt and the morally bankrupt. Sure beats a bull horn in the gut.”
This Machine Mocks Fascists: The Sloppy Scales Songbook will delight the already initiated — but Scales also aims to wake people up to the fascistic plans of the oligarchic elites and racist ideologues who’d rather watch his country burn than allow its cultural diversity to thrive. Either way, he’s already midway through his followup — titled Sloppy Seconds, of course. Stay tuned!
Watch the video for Trump above, check out more of This Machine Mocks Fascists: The Sloppy Scales Songbook below, and follow Sloppy Scales on Instagram and Twitter.
