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Trump Haters Demand POTUS Stop Playing 'Macho Man,' Village People Shut Them Down

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YMCA, meet MAGA.

I suppose I shouldn’t be shocked. We live in a hyper-politicized America where Ravelry, a knitting social media website, banned support for President Donald Trump or his administration in June. Alas, my herringbone-stitched Trump-Pence 2020 lawn sign will sadly go unrecognized.

However, I would have thought the Village People would be, well, apolitical at this point. It’s not just that “YMCA,” “Macho Man” and “In the Navy” have passed into the common cultural lexicon at this point. It’s that the group itself stopped being culturally relevant beyond those songs during the Carter administration. For one day every year — Halloween — the group becomes relevant again.

Aside from that one day when you and your friends dress as the military guy and the biker guy and the construction guy (although probably not the Native American anymore), nobody really thinks about the Village People or what their take on Donald Trump is. That changed very briefly over the past few weeks because the president has (again) played some of their songs at his rallies.

The president used “Macho Man” during his recent trip to India, which led to the group being “inundated” with angry fans demanding they speak out.

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So, they did — although likely not in a way most of the people who reached out expected them to.

“We have received numerous requests demanding that we prevent or ban President Donald Trump’s use of our songs, particularly ‘Y.M.C.A.’ and ‘Macho Man,'” the group said in a Feb. 24 Facebook post.

“Since our music is not being used for a specific endorsement, the President’s use is ‘perfect[ly]’ legal.

“He has remained respectful in his use of our songs and has not crossed the line; if he or any other candidate were to use any of our songs in a manner that would suggest our endorsement, or in a promotional advertisement, that would cross the line,” they added.

Do you agree with the Village People's stance on their music?

“Like millions of Village People fans worldwide, the President and his supporters have shown a genuine like for our music.

“Our music is all-inclusive and certainly everyone is entitled to do the YMCA dance, regardless of their political affiliation. Having said that, we certainly don’t endorse his use as we’d prefer our music be kept out of politics.”

The Hill reported that a spokesperson from the group said the campaign’s use of the music “has nothing to do with gay support of the group.”

“The Village People’s music has been a cultural influence tied to the LGBTQ community, a group that some of Trump’s policies have targeted,” The Hill noted.

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According to Fox News, “Macho Man” played before Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the stage for a rally in Gujarat.

As you can see from a tweet from the official account of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, it was indeed a large rally:

It was unclear whether or not part of the controversy this time was due to the fact that there was the additional variable of Modi, a controversial Hindu nationalist leader whose government is currently under fire for a citizenship law that targets Muslims.

My assumption is that isn’t the reason. The kind of people who tune into a Trump/Modi rally get themselves lathered up and decide the best way to #Resist is to tweet at the Village People are probably not the kind of people who get involved in the minutiae of Indian politics and some of Modi’s more questionable positions.

Instead, these are people whose amygdala went into hyper-drive when “Macho Man” came on and, in the midst of yet another fist-clenching outrage, thought, “I know! The Village People will save me from having to feel this way again!”

Well, why not? Other artists have protested the president’s use of their music, with R.E.M. even threatening to sue. Given that I’m of the impression that R.E.M. is morose and overrated, I’d just acquiesce were I Trump’s people, although I suppose that would set a bad precedent.

Whatever the case, it turns out the Village People don’t share the same level of fury that the self-styled white knight defenders of “Macho Man” do. More’s the pity.

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C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.
C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).
Birthplace
Morristown, New Jersey
Education
Catholic University of America
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Topics of Expertise
American Politics, World Politics, Culture




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