With the presidential election nearly three weeks away, Trump decided to host a listening party instead of answering political questions. His playlist included songs by artists who have banned him from using their music.
Donald Trump delivered a catastrophically strange performance earlier this week in Pennsylvania, during which the presidential nominee seemed to forget that the election was on 5 November and not “5 January”, as he stated.
But that wasn’t the strangest part.
Trump’s Town Hall was also interrupted by several medical emergencies due to the warm temperatures inside the venue. This led the former POTUS and Republican candidate to stop answering political questions and instead host a 30-minute listening party, during which Trump ‘danced’ along to music, in a clear attempt to avoid making more gaffes in public and instead hold a crowd hostage to his Spotify playlist.
The unexpected turn was also a divisive one, as the tracks played at the event included songs by artists who have already threatened Trump with legal action.
These included a medley of Guns N’ Roses ‘November Rain’, James Brown’s ‘It’s A Man’s World’, ‘YMCA’, ‘Memory’ from Cats, several versions of ‘Ave Maria’, and Sinéad O’Connor’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’.
Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose has repeatedly blasted Trump online and O’Connor’s estate previously issued a cease-and-desist order to Trump so that her songs would not be used at his rallies.
Various clips from the event were soon posted to social media. Check some out below.
“Trump holds a town hall and instead of answering questions, he stands on stage with boring music playing. Over and over and over again. So cringe and so weird.”
“Wow — this was weird. Trump wrapped up his ‘town hall’ in Oaks, Pennsylvania, after just a few questions, and right after he said he would take a few more questions. More music then played while Trump stood around on stage. Deeply bizarre scenes.”
“In what is the craziest thing that I’ve ever seen in politics, Donald Trump spent the last 38 minutes of his Pennsylvania townhall just listening to music and dancing on stage, alone. 8 different songs played in that time.”
“We’re still here and so is most of the crowd. A question has not been asked in more than a half hour. Now Trump is notably playing a music video of Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares to you.” O’Connor’s estate asked Trump to stop playing her music at his rallies. She once called Trump a “biblical devil”.”
Another track played was Rufus Wainwright’s version of ‘Hallelujah’ – and the singer was understandably not pleased.
Wainwright shared a statement, condemning the use of his music by Trump: “The song ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen has become an anthem dedicated to peace, love and acceptance of the truth. I’ve been supremely honoured over the years to be connected with this ode to tolerance. Witnessing Trump and his supporters commune with this music last night was the height of blasphemy. Of course, I in no way condone this and was mortified, but the good in me hopes that perhaps in inhabiting and really listening to the lyrics of Cohen’s masterpiece, Donald Trump just might experience a hint of remorse over what he’s caused. I’m not holding my breath.”
A spokesperson for Wainwright confirmed that “the publishing company for the Leonard Cohen estate has sent the Trump campaign a cease and desist letter”.
Trump is notorious for using music at his campaign rallies without the artists’ permission. Everyone from Tom Petty, Neil Young, The Rolling Stones via Adele, Bruce Springsteen and The White Stripes has issued the politician with cease-and-desist orders.
Isaac Hayes’ estate sued him for 134 counts of copywright infringement, and in August, both French artist Woodkid and Canadian national treasure Céline Dion called out the unauthorized uses of their songs at Trump’s rallies.
Dion’s song from the Oscar-winning film Titanic, ‘My Heart Will Go On’, was used at a rally in Montana. Dion’s team condemned the use, and questioned the song choice, writing: “And really, THAT song?” – proving that Trump and his campaign team seem to have little to no self-awareness when it comes to culture or the fact that his campaign feels like a sinking ship.
One of the most recent cases has been Beyoncé reportedly threatening Donald Trump’s campaign with legal action for its unauthorized use of her song ‘Freedom’ in a social media video, days after the singer approved the song as the official anthem for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
According to Rolling Stone, the singer’s record label issued a cease-and-desist letter to the Trump campaign after the former President’s spokesperson Steven Cheung posted a now-deleted video on X of Trump stepping off an airplane with the song ‘Freedom’ playing the background.
In other news, the controversial Donald Trump origin story The Apprentice is out now, with the Trump campaign having vowed to sue. You can read our full review of Ali Abbasi’s film here.
