FACT CHECK: Viral Image Claims Trump Called The Rolling Stones Un-American For Denying Him Use Of Their Music

Elias Atienza | Senior Reporter

An image shared on Facebook more than 25,000 times claims President Donald Trump called the Rolling Stones un-American for not allowing him to use their music at rallies.

Verdict: False

There is no evidence of Trump making such a remark. A Trump campaign spokesperson refuted the claim.

Fact Check:

The Rolling Stones, working with performing rights organization BMI, asked the Trump campaign to no longer play their music at campaign events and threatened to sue if they did not stop, according to Deadline. The band’s 1968 hit song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” has been played as Trump’s walk-off song at the end of his rallies and events, per CNN.

The viral image claims Trump called the Rolling Stones un-American for not allowing their music to be played at rallies, even though the band is originally from London.

But there’s no evidence of Trump calling the band un-American. Had he done so, it would have been picked up by major media outlets, yet none have reported on it. A search of Factbase, an online database that collects Trump’s public statements, turned up no instances of Trump making such a remark.

There is also no record of Trump ever tweeting the statement. Searching Trump’s verified Twitter accounts – @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS – and ProPublica’s archive of his deleted tweets turned up no matches. The Daily Caller found just one tweet from Trump mentioning the British band in 2012, when he congratulated them on their 50th anniversary.

A Trump campaign spokesperson confirmed in an email to the Caller that neither Trump nor the campaign called the Stones un-American. (RELATED: Did Donald Trump Tweet, ‘Some Oldies Will Have To Die’?)

Musician Neil Young and the family of Tom Petty have also asked the Trump campaign not to use their music during events, according to the Associated Press.

Elias Atienza

Senior Reporter
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