Donald Trump is, like he always has been, in campaign mode, holding huge rallies for his dwindling horde of fervent supporters. At his rally on Thursday night in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Trump and his team tried to seem likable by playing a song from Minneapolis’ most famous star, Prince.
Ironically, the president chose to play “Purple Rain,” which Prince has stated in the past is about the violent end of the world. Some observed that in the light of Trump’s recent scandals, playing “Purple Rain” was a little on the nose. It's definitely not a song to play at a political rally.
Prince’s estate agreed, and they've been through this before. Last year, it asked to be informed in writing that Trump would not use Prince’s music in campaign events. Within hours of the rally, the estate posted a letter confirming that Trump and his campaign agreed they would not use any of Prince’s music for his events. A promise the Trump team clearly didn’t keep.
“President Trump played Prince’s “Purple Rain” tonight at a campaign event in Minneapolis despite confirming a year ago that the campaign would not use Prince’s music,” the tweet said. “The Prince Estate will never give permission to President Trump to use Prince’s songs.”
Trump’s campaign has not responded to the statement released by Prince’s estate, but this isn’t the first time he’s used music without the artist’s permission. Just last week, Nickelback had a video that Trump tweeted removed for copyright reasons. Trump shared a video alleging that Joe Biden and his son were part of an extensive Ukrainian corruption scheme, with the song “Photograph” playing in the background. It seems very few musicians, dead or alive, Canadian or American, want to be associated with President Trump.
Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, that wasn’t the worst or most bizarre thing to happen during Trump’s rally. He also went on a rant against Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff, the two members of Congress leading the impeachment inquiry against him, as well as Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar. He also spent time targeting the Somali immigrant community in Minnesota, which is the largest in the country.
“I promised you that as president, I would give local people a greater say in refugee policy,” he told the crowd of supporters, who booed at the mention of Somali immigrants. “If Democrats were ever to seize power, they would open the flood gates for unvetted and uncontrolled migration like you’ve never seen before.”
It’s easy to see why there aren’t too many artists thrilled by the idea of their work being associated with a speech like that.
