The Trump campaign, like other conservative campaigns before his, has been trying to rally up the masses in the face of a terrible economic outlook and public health crisis. All of these things have been mismanaged by an administration beset with scandal after scandal. So Trump and crew are trying their best to do what they do best: create a circus dog and pony show made out of anger, hate, fear, racism, and xenophobia. In order to provide good feelings in the crowd and keep them upbeat while scam artists try to sell them oversized MAGA hats and get rid of their overstock “Lock her up” memorabilia, the Trump campaign keeps using rock ‘n’ roll music.
The problem, of course, is that every single artist cannot stand what Trump or the idiots who attend his rallies stand for. During Trump’s Tulsa, Oklahoma, disaster of a rally, the orange one’s campaign decided to use Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” to bring Trump on stage. It makes sense because the right-wing rulers of our country spend the majority of their propaganda energy on pretending they are being oppressed. The people that put children in cages, separate families, condone violence against and murder of American citizens based on race and class, and represent the fewest number of Americans, enjoy pretending that they are the underdogs.
Tom Petty’s family is not interested in the Trump administration’s attempts at co-opting Petty’s American anthem. They released a statement on social media condemning Trump’s use of Petty’s songs “for a campaign of hate.” They wanted to make it clear that the Petty estate had in no way sanctioned the use of the late artist’s music for Trump’s propaganda machine.
Benmont Tench III, one of the founding members of Tom Petty’s band, the Heartbreakers, echoed the Petty family’s sentiment in an Instagram post, saying: “I in no way approve of Trump even whistling any piece of music associated with our band. I hope that is clear enough.”
Petty’s politics were always to the left of center, and as Petty got older and the world he grew up in evolved, Petty was always clear about how his beliefs were evolving as well.
