Tom Petty’s estate issued a cease and desist to President Trump for his usage of “I Won’t Back Down” at a campaign rally on Saturday. Petty’s estate and family also issued a statement on Twitter, criticizing Trump’s “Campaign of Hate.”
“Trump was in no way authorized to use this song to further a campaign that leaves too many Americans and common sense behind,” the statement said. “Both the late Tom Petty and his family firmly stand against racism and discrimination of any kind. Tom Petty would never want a song of his used for a campaign of hate. He liked to bring people together.”
Petty’s estate continues to explain how the song had been meant for the “underdog.” They emphasize that while they support everyone’s beliefs and decisions to vote in the ways they wish, they do not want to support a campaign which supports marginalization of citizens. The statement also announced they had sent a cease and desist notice to Trump’s campaign. Trump had begun his campaign in Tulsa, Oklahoma by walking onstage while “I Won’t Back Down” played in the background.
In 2015, Petty stated in an interview with Rolling Stone that he stood against the Confederate flag, calling his former use of the flag “downright stupid.” Petty, who hailed from Gainesville, Florida, used the flag during his 1985 Southern Accents tour, explaining in the interview that growing up in the South he had been ignorant of what the flag meant. Two years after the tour, Petty said fans would wear the flag to shows, and he asked for them to stop, stating he had always regretted his use of the Confederate flag.
Trump’s decision to host a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma had been controversial, due to the city’s history of violence against Black citizens. In 1921, white mob had massacred hundreds of black residents, Tulsa’s “Black Wallstreet” destroyed and burned to the ground. It had been the largest single incident of racial violence in United States history. Trump had originally planned for the rally to be hosted on Juneteenth, the date the celebration for when the last American slaves had been set free on June 19, 1865. Trump’s campaign eventually moved the date to June 20 due to mass criticism.
At tonight’s rally, Trump made comments about violence in Tulsa in regards to protests against his rally, stating his people “aren’t nearly as violent, but if they were it would be a terrible, terrible day for the other side.” According to the New York Times’ fact checking, there were few clashes between protestors and Trump’s supporters.
“When you do testing to that extent, you’re going to find more people, you’re going to find more cases,” Trump said. “So I said to my people, ‘Slow the testing down, please.’ They test, and they test.”
Trump also made racist remarks, bashing Black Lives Matter protestors and calling the coronavirus the “Kung Flu.” Trump had also made a comment stating he wanted to limit the amount of testing for the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, explaining that the numbers would be higher due to more tests.
In addition to Trump’s other comments, he said he “won on DACA yesterday,” telling his audience not to worry and “everything is going to work out really good,” mentioning how they will refile. Yesterday the Supreme Court had ruled 5-4 that they will not be ending the DACA program, calling the attempt “arbitrary and capricious.”
Trump’s rally had ended with the Rolling Stone’s “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” the band having previously asked Trump to stop using their song. Many other music artists have objected to Trump using their songs for rallies, including Adele, Aerosmith, Neil Young, R.E.M., Pharrell Williams and the Village People. The rally had less people than Trump had expected, with the 19,000 seats at least one-third empty.
Photo credit: Brett Padelford
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