KISS’ Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons offer free meals to TSA workers during government shutdown

Spencer Kaufman
Updated
KISS' Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons

With the government shutdown now a month long, founding KISS members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons are offering to feed TSA workers for free at their Rock & Brews restaurant chain, which has a number of airport locations.

In a video message on the Rock & Brews Facebook page, Simmons begins, “Hey, you guys, we’re proud to operate our Rock & Brews restaurants at airports, and respect the diligent hard work of each and every TSA employee to ensure the safety, of who else, us, to travel around the world.”

Stanley then adds, “While the TSA continues to work on our behalf without pay, we want to make sure that we can at least provide them with a delicious meal to show our support. We want you to eat well because you do so much for us.”

The shutdown, which President Trump initiated in order to get a deal to build a wall at the US-Mexican border, is now more than 30 days old, with roughly 800,000 government employees not getting paid during that time.

After the pair posted the video message, Stanley was invited to speak with CNN host Brooke Baldwin about the gesture yesterday (January 21st).

“We just believe in giving back to the community, and our community is this country,” Stanley told Baldwin. “To have a situation where 800,000 people are out of work, basically because of political egos and strategizing, forgets the point that those are the people that make this country great, and we make sure that TSA workers and Coast Guard get one meal a day from us.”

He added, “People need to put their political affiliation aside, and the priority has to be to get people back to work, back on the payroll, and then let’s figure out what the solution is. I certainly have my own point of view, but I’m not gonna share it, because I’m a rock ‘n’ roller, and I know my place.”

See Stanley’s full interview with Baldwin in the tweet below.

KISS will kickoff the first leg of their final tour on January 31st in Vancouver, Canada. A full list of currently scheduled dates can be seen here.