Neil Young says he supports Bernie Sanders — and that Donald Trump shouldn't have used his song "Rockin' in the Free World." He's seen here performing in Los Angeles earlier this year.
Larry Busacca/Getty Images for NARAS
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Neil Young says he supports Bernie Sanders — and that Donald Trump shouldn't have used his song "Rockin' in the Free World." He's seen here performing in Los Angeles earlier this year.
Larry Busacca/Getty Images for NARAS
When Donald Trump
announced Tuesday that he's running
for president, the soundtrack at the Trump Tower event was Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World," which was played loudly and repeatedly. But afterward, Young said Trump had used the song without permission — and that he's a Bernie Sanders guy, anyway.
Young's manager released a statement saying:
"Donald Trump was not authorized to use "Rockin' In The Free World" in his presidential candidacy announcement. Neil Young, a Canadian citizen, is a supporter of Bernie Sanders for President of the United States of America."
The Trump campaign says it used the song legally — through a licensing deal with ASCAP, the musicians' copyright group. But as
Rolling Stone
notes, ASCAP's rules are different for using music in a political message; they require a campaign to reach out to the song's owners.
