Trump Campaign Guy Has Extremely Original Idea to Use Beyoncé’s ‘Freedom’ in New Video
Perhaps out of jealousy, or some weird attempt at spoof, or maybe just incapable of coming up with an original idea of his own, one of Donald Trump’s campaign spokespeople decided to use Beyoncé’s “Freedom” — a kind of unofficial Kamala Harris campaign track — in a recent social media video of Trump … getting off an airplane.
Yesterday afternoon, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung shared a 13-second video on social media that showed Trump getting off a plane in Michigan. It doesn’t seem like “Freedom” is playing in the background at the airport, suggesting Cheung probably added it himself.
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A source close to Beyoncé tells Rolling Stone that neither Cheung nor the Trump campaign got permission from Beyoncé or her team to use “Freedom” in the video, and the label has issued a cease and desist order.
Throughout his political career, Trump has faced pushback from artists whose music he’s used, primarily at his campaign rallies. While there’s generally not much artists can do to prevent their songs from being played at such events, the use of “Freedom” in this clip could potentially be subject to a more vigorous takedown action. (That, however, depends on the general mood of Beyoncé and her team, as well as the complex web of music licenses that govern the use of copyrighted music on social media platforms.)
As for Harris, she definitely did get permission from Beyoncé to use “Freedom,” and the song has even seen a boost in streams since Harris started using it when her presidential bid began this summer (following Joe Biden’s decision not to seek reelection). Harris walked out to the Lemonade track at her first public appearance after securing Biden’s endorsement, and soon after that, her campaign dropped an official launch video featuring the song. When the Democratic National Convention kicked off earlier this week, “Freedom” played throughout a new ad that also featured narration from Oscar-nominated actor Jeffrey Wright.
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