The Trump meme presidency continued to (t)roll down the highway on Monday (Oct. 20) when the White House responded to a request for comment about Kenny Loggins‘ demand that officials remove an unauthorized use of one of his biggest hits in an offensive AI-generated video.
In a statement on his Instagram on Monday, the singer slammed Trump’s use of his 1986 Billboard Hot 100 No. 2 Top Gun hit “Danger Zone” in a clip posted on Oct. 18 featuring an AI Trump, wearing a crown, flying a “King Trump”-labeled fighter jet and dumping what appears to be torrents of human excrement on protesters at the massive “No Kings” rallies on Saturday.
“I request that my recording on this video is removed immediately,” Loggins wrote of what he called the completely “unauthorized” use of the song, adding that he was not asked for permission, and if he had been, he would have denied. “I can’t imagine why anybody would want their music used or associated with something created with the sole purpose of dividing us. Too many people are trying to tear us apart, and we need to find new ways to come together.”
The deployment of the scatological clip by the 79-year-old president is the latest example of the White House’s use of artificial intelligence to create memes intended to troll their perceived enemies. In the latest case the target was peacefully protesting American citizens concerned about what they see as eroding democratic norms from what experts have said is an increasingly imperial presidency.
According to EW, when the magazine asked the White House for comment about Loggins’ statement, an official rep responded with a Top Gun meme: a picture of stars Tom Cruise and Anthony Edwards on the tarmac with the movie’s superimposed catchphrase “I Feel the Need For Speed.”
Organizers said the massive No Kings rallies on Saturday decrying what protesters say is the authoritarian bent of the Trump administration featured 2,600 events in nearly every state that drew more than seven million attendees, making it one of the largest mass protests in U.S. history.
Loggins joins a long list of musicians who have lashed out at Trump for using their music without permission in his campaign and White House videos. Just recently, the members of Blue Öyster Cult distanced themselves from the president after “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” was used in an AI clip that mocked Democrats via a fake band video featuring VP JD Vance on drums and a cloaked Trump hitting a cowbell while new lyrics scroll across the screen trolling Democrats.
Since his first presidential term, Trump has been called out by number of songwriters and performers for unauthorized use of their music at his rallies, in ads and in political attack messaging, including Adele, Beyoncé, Celine Dion, Foo Fighters, the estates and families of Laura Branigan, George Harrison, Sinéad O’Connor and Tom Petty, as well as Aerosmith, Guns N’ Roses, Pharrell, Rihanna, Neil Young, Ozzy Osbourne, the Rolling Stones, Panic! at the Disco and many more.
Acerca del autor
