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Donald Trump Uses Queen’s Words Without Permission, Introduces Melania With ‘We Are The Champions’

By Treva Bowdoin
Published on: 03:12 PST, Jul 19, 2016

Donald Trump’s wife Melania wasn’t the only speaker at last night’s Republican National Convention who used someone else’s inspirational words without permission. Many fans of the British band Queen are furious with Donald Trump for using the group’s popular ?1977 tune “We Are the Champions” as intro music when he took the stage to introduce Melania to the crowd. Queen guitarist Brian May has previously asked Trump to stop using the song at political events, but it looks like the presumptive Republican nominee is going to keep on fighting May’s wishes until the end.

According to Entertainment Weekly, social media users slammed Donald Trump for playing “We Are the Champions” during his WWE-style entrance that included a fog machine, bright blue lights, and a “silhouetto” of the man who wants to become the next POTUS. Many critics pointed out that Queen’s deceased frontman, Freddie Mercury, probably would have had a huge problem with Trump using one of his songs.

“My guess is that Freddie Mercury would not likely have been a Trump supporter,” Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post tweeted.

Mic writer Tom McKay agrees. He points out that Freddie Mercury “was a gay man who died from complications of HIV/AIDS in 1991,” and the GOP has worked hard to pass laws that would have devastating effects on men like him. In fact, ABC News reports that the Log Cabin Republicans, a group representing LGBT conservatives, have dubbed the 2016 GOP party platform “the most anti-LGBT platform in the party’s 162-year history.” The platform includes a pledge to overturn the Supreme Court ruling that made same-sex unions legal in the U.S. and “signals approval for the discredited practice of gay conversion therapy,” as reported by the Washington Post.

According to Buzzfeed, Donald Trump’s running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, made a controversial proposal in 2000 that would have negatively impacted certain members of the LGBT community and those suffering from HIV/AIDS. When Pence was running for Congress, he proposed that money being used to help HIV/AIDS patients should be diverted to organizations offering conversion therapy programs for people “seeking to change their sexual behavior.” The aim of conversion therapy is to alter one’s sexual orientation, but the Guardian reports that the practice “has been widely discredited as unethical and ineffective.”

Freddie Mercury is not alive to make his case against Donald Trump and the GOP using “We Are the Champions” at their political events, but other members of Queen have spoken out against the Celebrity Apprentice host using the song without the band’s permission.

In June, guitarist Brian May confirmed that Donald Trump was not given consent to use the tune. May had been receiving complaints from Queen fans who heard it played at one of the presumptive Republican nominee’s campaign rallies.

“We are taking advice on what steps we can take to ensure this use does not continue,” he wrote on his website.

“Regardless of our views on Mr Trump’s platform, it has always been against our policy to allow Queen music to be used as a political campaigning tool. Our music embodies our own dreams and beliefs, but it is for all who care to listen and enjoy.”

According to Billboard, Brian May also dubbed Donald Trump’s campaign “unsavoury” in a response to an upset fan on the Letters page of his website.

Queen’s current vocalist, American Idol star Adam Lambert, responded to Trump’s continued use of “We Are the Champions” by sharing the tweet below.

A message was also posted on the official Queen Twitter page letting fans know that the group has not changed its mind about Donald Trump using its music.

Donald Trump’s intro to “We Are the Champions” wasn’t the only controversial moment that occurred near the end of the unconventional first day of the Republican National Convention. As Gawker reports, last night’s headliner, Melania Trump, was accused of plagiarizing portions of First Lady Michelle Obama’s 2008 Democratic National Convention speech. Twitter users had a field day pointing out Donald and Melania’s “bad mistakes” and poking fun at them.

The Republican National Convention has certainly “been no bed of roses, no pleasure cruise” for Donald Trump so far.

[Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images]

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adam lambert queen brian may freddie mercury republican national convention melania trump Donald Trump
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