Twitter over the weekend pulled a campaign-style video, reportedly featuring Tommee Profitt’s cover of Linkin Park’s 2001 hit “In the End”—posted by Trump’s social media director Dan Scavino and retweeted by the president.
The alternative rock group, which topped charts in the late ’90s and early ’00s, objected to the use of their song by the current administration, tweeting on Saturday that “Linkin Park did not and does not endorse Trump, nor authorize his organization to use any of our music.”
A cease-and-desist letter was issued, and the video was taken down the same day under the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Scavino’s original tweet remains, though its content has been scrubbed; instead, a note reads: “This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner.” Twitter confirmed the removal to CNET, writing in an emailed statement that, “Per our copyright policy, we respond to valid copyright complaints sent to us by a copyright owner or their authorized representatives.” The company did not immediately respond to PCMag’s request for comment.
Musician Jung Youth, who helped create the cover song, also slammed Trump’s “illegal” usage in what he called a “propaganda video.” “Anyone who knows me knows I stand firmly against bigotry and racism,” Youth tweeted on Sunday. “Much love to everyone in the Twitter community who helped get this video taken down [for real]!!”
Trump has previously been called out for misusing music, most recently by the late Tom Petty’s family, who last month sent a cease-and-desist letter to the president after his campaign used the song “I Won’t Back Down” at a rally in Tulsa, Okla. “Trump was in no way authorized to use this song to further a campaign that leaves too many Americans and common sense behind,” the Petty estate said in a June 21 tweet. The singer-songwriter, who died of an accidental drug overdose in 2017, “would never want a song of his used for a campaign of hate. He liked to bring people together.”
