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Donald Trump's spokesman uses Kamala Harris' Beyonce song “Freedom”

Donald Trump's spokesman Steven Cheung appears to have taken a swipe at the Republicans' Democratic rival in the 2024 election, Vice President Kamala Harris, by using her campaign song “Freedom” by Beyoncé in a social media post.

On Tuesday, Cheung shared a video on X (formerly Twitter) showing Trump getting off his plane in Michigan to attend a campaign rally with “Freedom” playing in the background. As Trump drove past a Secret Service van, he raised his fists in the air. Cheung captioned the post, “Touchdown in Michigan!!! @realDonaldTrump.”

It's unclear if the song was actually played at the crime scene or if Cheung added the audio later. Despite concerns raised in the comments about possible copyright infringement, the video was still online at the time of writing.

When I was asked to comment on the video by The HillCheung replied: “Freedom, freedom!” Neither Cheung nor Beyoncé’s representatives have responded The Hollywood Reporterasked for a comment.

In July, Harris received quick approval from Beyoncé's team to use “Freedom” from her 2016 album. lemonade as part of her presidential campaign. The song was featured in Harris' campaign launch video and in a commercial featuring her running mate Tim Walz. In the commercial, Jeffrey Wright says: “What kind of America do we want? One where we're divided, angry, depressed? Come on! We're Americans! Fascism? We conquered it. The moon? We landed on it. The future? We're building it. Freedom? Nobody loves it more. And we're fighting for it.”

Trump, on the other hand, has been in legal trouble for using songs for his campaign without permission. Last week, the estate of Isaac Hayes sued him for 134 counts of copyright infringement after Trump played Sam & Dave's “Hold On, I'm Coming,” which was written by the late musician, at a rally. After Trump also used Celine Dion's “My Heart Will Go On” at a rally in Montana, Dion's team condemned the unauthorized use and questioned the song selection, writing: “…And really, that song?”