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The late Sinéad O’Connor’s hit song “Nothing Compares 2 U” was played during former US President Donald Trump’s campaign event in Oaks, Pennsylvania last night, Monday, October 14.
The event, which was billed as a town hall-style Q&A session moderated by Governor of South Dakota Kristi Noem, took an unexpected turn after two medical incidents occurred just minutes apart on separate sides of the hall.
As medics attended, Trump asked that “Ave Maria” be played each time.
After the medical events were resolved, Trump said to the crowd: “Would anybody else like to faint? Please raise your hand.”
He continued: “You know what we could do though – if my guys can do it, how about, we’ll do a little music – let’s make this a musical fest.”
Trump became keen on turning his event into a sort of music-listening party – he’d speak for minutes at a time before turning his attention back to his requests for music.
After “Ave Maria” was played for a third time, Trump said: “Let’s not do any more questions. Let’s just listen to music.
“Let’s make it into a music – who the hell wants to hear questions, right?”
Later, “Time to Say Goodbye” was played, during which the former President shook hands and chatted with some of the people seated on the stage, though he did stand and sway for most of the song.
Up next was “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World” by James Brown, which again saw Trump mostly standing on stage and intermittently chatting with Noem, off mic.
Trump then said to the crowd: “So, this has been an honor tonight. We could do another question or two if you like, but probably – do you want to do one? Let’s go, let’s go.
“You know, it’s – it ends so beautifully. How ’bout this, we’ll play ‘YMCA,’ and then we’ll go home.”
He then encouraged attendees to vote before concluding: “I want this to be a really important evening and those two people who went down are patriots and we love them, and because of them, we ended up with some good music – right? Right?
“So play ‘YMCA’ – go ahead – let’s go – nice and loud.”
Trump shook some hands as the song played before repositioning on stage and resuming his swaying dance. The Village People have previously sent Trump a cease-and-desist letter for using their music.
Then, it was Rufus Wainwright’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” Rolling Stone reported on Tuesday that Cohen’s publishing company Sony Music Publishing has sent a cease-and-desist to the Trump campaign after the song was used last night.
Without any commentary from Trump, the playlist then launched into O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” which was met with cheers from the crowd.
At the start of the song, Trump can be seen pointing to his ear while making eye contact with, presumably, someone in the crowd. He then pumps his fist and mouths “fight, fight, fight,” recreating his now-famous reaction after the attempted assassination on him during an event in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 14.
Unlike the previous songs, Trump mostly stayed in place on stage while O’Connor’s song played, save for speaking to someone off-stage quickly and chatting with Noem, who also remained on stage.
Bryan Llenas, a national correspondent with Fox News Channel, shared a clip from inside the event that showed the music video for “Nothing Compares 2 U” was also played.
We’re still here and so is most of the crowd. A question has not been asked in more than a half hour.
Now Trump is notably playing a music video of Sinéad O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares to you.” O’Connor’s estate asked Trump to stop playing her music at his rallies. She once… pic.twitter.com/WtVn3grFHP
— Bryan Llenas (@BryanLlenas) October 15, 2024
Rounding out Trump’s impromptu “musical fest” was “An American Trilogy” by Elvis, “Rich Men North of Richmond” by Oliver Anthony, “November Rain” by Guns ‘N Roses, and finally “Memory” from the Broadway show “Cats.”
Monday night’s event was streamed live by the Associated Press on YouTube:
O’Connor’s estate has previously denounced Trump’s use of her music at his rallies, arguing that the late Irish singer-songwriter would have been “disgusted.”
In March, after “Nothing Compares 2 U” was used at a Trump event in Maryland on February 24, O’Connor’s estate and Chrysalis Records said in a joint statement: “Throughout her life, it is well known that Sinéad O’Connor lived by a fierce moral code defined by honesty, kindness, fairness, and decency towards her fellow human beings.
“It was with outrage therefore that we learned that Donald Trump has been using her iconic performance of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ at his political rallies.
“It is no exaggeration to say that Sinéad would have been disgusted, hurt and insulted to have her work misrepresented in this way by someone who she herself referred to as a ‘biblical devil’.
“As the guardians of her legacy, we demand that Donald Trump and his associates desist from using her music immediately.”
Trump and his campaign evidently have not heeded the warning from O’Connor’s estate.