Musician Ben Folds has written a song about Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein titled “Mr. Peepers,” the same name President Trump reportedly calls his No. 2 at the Justice Department in private.
Asked by the Washington Post Magazine to pen a song about whatever he wanted, Folds chose to focus on Rosenstein, who has become a target of Trump and his allies in their criticisms of the federal Russia investigation. Rosenstein is overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller’s operation, which Trump derides as a “witch hunt.”
“We have a character in Rosenstein who is not in the business of theater,” Folds explains in a behind-the-scenes video shared by the Post on YouTube. “This guy found himself unwittingly in an incredible hot seat.” Referring to Rosenstein refusing to adhere to the theatrics he witnessed from the GOP in a hearing, Folds said Rosenstein “is now in a position where is going to get beaten up. So that’s the story.”
Noting that he’s proud that he chose Rosenstein over someone like former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, Folds said Rosenstein is”much more real and painful to me than the other stuff, because of the personal position he’s been put in and the position we’re all in at these crossroads — when we find ourselves deciding to stick up for our norms or not.”
The chorus of the song, sung by Folds, goes as follows:
As the thugs all smash his glasses
Going full “Lord of the Flies”
Burning this island down to ashes
What’s the rule of law if we can’t agree on what a fact is?
There ain’t nothing here to see, folks, move along, move along
An article published in April by the Washington Post reported that Trump had referred to Rosenstein as “Mr. Peepers” and Attorney General Jeff Sessions as “Mr. Magoo.”
Mr. Magoo is cartoon character from the 1950s who often found himself in comical situations because of his nearsightedness, causing other characters in the program to find him to be crazy. Mr. Peepers was a character in an eponymous 1950s sitcom.
Trump has condemned the Post story’s reliance on unnamed sources and denied he ever used those nicknames.
