Neil Young criticized Donald Trump for playing his song “Rockin’ In The Free World” at a rally this week. The President had also played Young’s “Like a Hurricane” and “Cowgirl in the Sand” during the rally. This is not the first time Young has asked Trump not to play his songs at a presidential rally.
Young responded on Twitter to a video journalist Morgan Matzen had taken at the rally, where Trump fans sat around as “Rockin’ In The Free World” played through the speakers.
“This is NOT ok with me…,” Young said on Twitter.
Young also declared his support for the Lakota Sioux on Twitter, whose sacred mountain had been defaced by the faces sculpted into Mt. Rushmore. Mt. Rushmore had previously been a part of the Black Hills, and during the 1870s the United States government forced the Sioux to relinquish the mountains in search of gold. The faces carved into the mountain have always been source of disdain for the Sioux, as they consider the mountain sacred. As statues and monuments of confederate soldiers have been toppling all across the country, the carvings on Mt. Rushmore has garnered a renewed interest.
“I stand in solidarity with the Lakota Sioux & this is NOT ok with me,” Young said on Twitter.
Mt. Rushmore is the second controversial rally President Trump has held over the past few weeks, the first being a rally in Tulsa on June 20. President Trump had originally planned to have the rally on Juneteenth, the holiday which celebrates when the last slaves were set free in the United States. Tulsa, Oklahoma has a history of violence against Black citizens due to when a white mob had massacred hundreds of black residents and Tulsa’s “Black Wallstreet” in 1921, destroying their neighborhoods and burning it to the ground. The incident had been the United States’ single largest incident of racial violence.
Last month Young took to Twitter to state he believes Trump will soon be powerless, while also stating his support for the Black Lives Matter protests. Young, who was recently granted U.S. citizenship, had previously performed at digital Bernie Sanders rally. Last week, Young released his album, Homegrown, which had been recorded in 1974.
Young is not the only artist to publicly denounce Trump’s use of their songs. Tom Petty’s estate issued a cease and desist after Trump played “I Won’t Back Down” at his Tulsa rally on June 20. Adele, the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, R.E.M., Pharrell Williams and the Village People have asked Trump previously not to play their songs.
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