Trump says he likes playing “gay national anthem” “Y.M.C.A.” at parties
The former president says 1978 disco hit -- which he was asked to stop playing at political rallies -- "gets [people] rocking."
Former President Donald Trump has revealed that one of his favorite songs to play during parties at his Mar-a-Lago resort is the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.,” the 1978 hit he calls the “gay national anthem.”
In a recent interview on the Full Send podcast, Trump was asked about what music he likes to play when hosting events at his Florida resort, in response to a report from last month that Mar-a-Lago members had received a message touting the fact that the former president would be “playing the role of disc jockey” at select parties.
Trump said that he does not physically DJ, or “spin” at the Mar-a-Lago parties, but is in charge of the song list.
When asked what his “go-to banger” is, Trump replied, “I have a lot of them. You know a song that does get people moving? — I love Broadway stuff, Phantom of the Opera and Les Miz, etc. — You know what gets them rocking? ‘Y.M.C.A.’
“‘Y.M.C.A.’, the gay national anthem. Did you ever hear that? They call it the gay national anthem. But ‘Y.M.C.A.’ gets people up and it gets them moving.”
He added that his choice of song to follow “Y.M.C.A.” is “maybe” Sam & Dave’s 1966 track “Hold On, I’m Comin’.”
“You know we just have a good time,” he said.
Interestingly, while Trump has long been a fan of “Y.M.C.A.” — as well as another Village People hit “Macho Man,” which he played at various campaign rallies and political events in 2020 — Village People vocalist and co-founder Victor Willis has not always been so enthusiastic about having the group’s hits associated with the former president.
The band initially said in a February 2020 Facebook post that it was “absolutely fine” with Trump playing its hits at rallies, because the songs are not suggesting any endorsement by the group, in keeping with the band’s desire to be “kept out of politics.”
But Willis later blasted the former president in another Facebook post later that year, asking Trump to stop using Village People songs at rallies if he followed through on his threat to use the U.S. military to shut down ongoing Black Lives Matter-inspired protests against racism and police brutality.
Willis wrote the post in response to the clearing of protesters from Washington, D.C.’s Lafayette Square on June 1, with police allegedly using tear gas and batons against the crowd.
Despite pleas from Willis and the Village People to stop using their songs, Trump refused to do so throughout the remainder of his presidency, even playing “Y.M.C.A.” before boarding Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base for the last time as he left office, reports Newsweek.
The Village People later issued a statement to The Huffington Post saying their request had been ignored because Trump was a “bully.”
“Thankfully he’s now out of office, so it would seem his abusive use of our music has finally ended,” the group said. “We hope to spearhead a change in copyright law that will give artists and publishers more control over who can and cannot use our music in the public space. Currently there is no limit to blanket licensing.”
It is also unlikely that Willis would enjoy Trump’s characterization of the group’s top hit — which has been declared an “American cultural phenomenon” by the Library of Congress — as the “gay national anthem.” In late 2020, Willis threatened to sue anyone who implied or suggested that the song’s lyrics were a reference to cruising for anonymous gay sex hookups, saying fans need to “get [their] minds out of the gutter.”
“I wrote 100% of the lyrics to Y.M.C.A., so I ought to know what my song is about,” Willis wrote on Facebook. “Y.M.C.A. is one of the most iconic songs in the world. I will not stand idle and allow it to be defamed. Therefore, I will sue the next media organization, or anyone else, that falsely suggests Y.M.C.A. is somehow about illicit gay sex.”
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