Donald Trump Blasted For Supposedly Ironic Choice Of Music At Michigan Rally
Donald Trump drew the attention of social media users on Thursday night as he was called out for his choice of background music while disembarking from Air Force One in Freeland, Michigan, ahead of a campaign rally — Creedence Clearwater Revival’s 1969 classic “Fortunate Son.”
As explained by Newsweek, “Fortunate Son” was written by CCR frontman John Fogerty as a reaction to the allegedly “discriminatory” draft system of the late 1960s, where people born to wealthy families were able to avoid military service while the less privileged were forced to fight the war in Vietnam.
In the video below, the song’s chorus played in the background as several Trump supporters, most of them wearing red hats, waited for the president to emerge from the plane. Vox journalist Aaron Rupar urged his followers in the caption to take note of the lyrics, where Fogerty sarcastically maintained that he isn’t a “millionaire’s son.”
Oh, the irony (pay attention to the lyrics) pic.twitter.com/hAmzO3uSZi
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 10, 2020
“Trump is playing ‘Fortunate Son’ at his rally in Michigan,” read a tweet from comedian Christopher Titus, as quoted by Newsweek. “The song is about a kid sent to Vietnam because he had no money or contacts. Trump’s millionaire daddy bought him five deferments. Stunning.”
Similarly, Dave Weigel of The Washington Post quipped on Twitter that the president’s use of the CCR tune for Thursday’s rally could be an “entry for the ‘nobody listened to the lyrics’ hall of fame.'” You can view his post here.
The above remarks referred to how Trump has been accused multiple times of using his privilege to avoid getting drafted as a younger man. As noted by NME, he received four student deferments, with the last ending in July 1968 as he was declared medically fit for service following his college graduation. He would, however, receive a fifth deferment in September of that year for “unspecified reasons,” one that would become permanent in the early 1970s as Trump claimed he was diagnosed with bone spurs.
The above diagnosis has since been brought up multiple times by the president’s critics, including former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, who stated during a debate last year that if nominated, he would force Trump to explain why he “[pretended] to be disabled” in order to avoid serving in the Vietnam War.
This isn’t the first time in recent weeks that Trump has been criticized for his supposedly questionable use of songs from classic rock artists for his re-election efforts. As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Neil Young sued the Trump campaign last month for the unauthorized use of two of his songs — “Devil’s Sidewalk” and “Rockin’ in the Free World.” In his complaint, the legendary performer said that he cannot allow the use of his music for a “divisive, un-American campaign of ignorance and hate.”
