- Twitter disabled a video retweeted by the president this weekend that featured music from
Linkin Park . - The band spoke out on Twitter, saying that it "did not and does not endorse Trump, nor authorize his organization to use any of our music."
- In the wake of the incident, people began to resurface tweets from the band's late front man
Chester Bennington , who spoke out against Trump on Twitter.
Over the weekend, Twitter disabled a video retweeted by President Donald Trump following a copyright claim by the band Linkin Park. The video, which Reuters described as "campaign-style," featured music from the band and was originally posted by White House social media director Dan Scavino. According to Reuters, the video was taken down after Twitter received a Digital Millennium Copyright Act notice from Machine Shop
Linkin Park made a statement on Twitter, saying, "Linkin Park did not and does not endorse Trump, nor authorize his organization to use any of our music. A cease and desist has been issued."
—LINKIN PARK (@linkinpark) July 19, 2020
In the wake of the event, fans began to resurface old tweets from the late Chester Bennington, Linkin Park's frontman, as reported by the Daily Dot. Bennington, who died by suicide in 2017, previously spoke out against Trump, calling him a "greater threat to the USA than terrorism" multiple times on Twitter.
—Chester Bennington (@ChesterBe) December 11, 2015
—Chester Bennington (@ChesterBe) January 30, 2017
Now, the quote retweets of Bennington's Trump-related tweets are full of recent activity, with many using the tweets to reply to those who say that Bennington would have approved of Trump's presidency. Others also brought up the tweets to explain why people were particularly outraged about the use of Linkin Park's music in the video.
—Quintin (@PaleoSabre) July 19, 2020
—Brandon Teschemacher (@BTesch73) July 19, 2020
—John "Wear a frickin MASK" Dotson (@DRockDot) July 18, 2020
This isn't the first time that Trump, or his campaign, have come under fire for using music from artists who disapprove of his presidency. In fact, it's pretty routine for artists to speak out against Trump using their music at campaign events. Adele told Trump in 2016 that he did not have her permission to use her music at campaign rallies. Panic! At The Disco's Brendon Urie told the Trump campaign on in June to stop using the song "High Hopes."
—Abby | DEFUND THE POLICE (@abb3rz07) July 18, 2020
The incident occurred just days before the anniversary of Bennington's death on July 20, 2017. Monday on Twitter, the hashtag #chesterbennington was trending in the United States as people shared memories of the late artist.
—Chester B (@IMissChesterB) July 20, 2020
- Read more:
- Twitter disabled a video that was retweeted by Trump following a copyright complaint from Linkin Park
- 20 artists who have spoken out against President Trump playing their music at his events
- Linkin Park's bassist wrote an emotional tribute to his late friend and band mate Chester Bennington for the one-year anniversary of his death
- Linkin Park rocked 'Carpool Karaoke' a week before frontman Chester Bennington's death — here's the bittersweet video