Michael Stipe appeared on Late Night With Seth Meyers on Wednesday night (Sept. 16) to talk about his online installtion with PlanYourVote.org. But before the two could discuss the R.E.M. singer’s initiative, Stipe had to express his thoughts on the current U.S. president.

“He started as a failed Midtown real estate developer,” he told Meyers, “then became a successful reality TV star, which is where this happened, and now we get this bloviating puff adder sack of lies. What next?”

Meyers pointed out that Stipe has been political for a while, and asked how the singer became interested in politics.

“When we were traveling outside the country…during the Reagan years…we’re [in Europe] to play a show,” he said, “a completely unknown band, people were like, ‘what the fuck are you people thinking? What are you doing over there? And we had to, in a way, politicize and educate ourselves about who we are to the rest of the world and who were to ourselves.”

They also discussed Stipe’s solo music and how it’s the first time he’s “written music.”

“I’m now composing,” he said. “It’s the first time I’ve written music. And I found it weirdly satisfying. I can’t say that it sounds very much like R.E.M., but I’m really happy with where it’s gone. And because of R.E.M. and because of all the fans across the years, I’m able to take all the money I’ve made for the first year of the release of every single that I’m putting out as a solo artist, and donate it or dedicate it to organizations and movements that I feel very strongly about.”

Stipe recently penned an essay about how COVID-19 has ravaged his Georgia home for The Guardian.

Watch Michael Stipe’s interview on Late Night With Seth Meyers below.