Brett Gurewitz attributed his anger towards former U.S. president George W. Bush as the major inspiration for "The Empire Strikes First". "Our whole album is dedicated to getting Bush out of office. I'm not a presidential scholar but I don't think you'll find a worse president in the history of the United States. He's probably one of the worst leaders in the history of world leaders. I just hate the guy." In a similar fashion, the album "Age of Unreason" was inspired by the band's disdain for Donald Trump.