Donald Trump loves him some Guns N’ Roses. In fact, not only does Trump think “November Rain” is the “greatest music video of all time,” he’s made his staffers watch the video to prove his point.
As Newsweek reports, Trump’s love of GNR’s “November Rain” video was revealed by Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The former White House Press Secretary mentioned the tidbit in her new book, Speaking for Myself, recounting the time Trump made her and White House Communications Director Hope Hicks watch the video in the Oval Office:
“The president told Hope and me in the Oval he wanted the classic Guns N’ Roses song ‘November Rain’ added to his rally playlist. He told us it was the ‘greatest music video of all time,’ and made us watch it to prove his point, even though neither of us had disagreed.”
Eventually Trump got his way, as “November Rain” was played aloud during a recent rally in Michigan. After hearing the song, Bloomberg White House correspondent Jennifer Jacobs tweeted out the excerpt from Sanders’ book. You can read it in full below.
Previously, Trump played Guns N’ Roses’ cover of Paul McCartney and Wings’ “Live and Let Die” at his rallies, at one point even doing so while going maskless at a factory that was producing face masks. In turn, GNR mocked Trump by selling a charity T-shirt with the words “Live and Let Die With COVID-45”. Axl Rose has also referred to Trump as a “repulsive excuse for a person.”
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We’re guessing that Trump could soon receive a cease-and-desist notice from Axl and co., as the Trump campaign has a long history of using music without permission. Just last month, he featured two versions of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” at the Republican National Convention — much to the ire of Cohen’s estate. Trump has also faced legal action from Neil Young and The Rolling Stones, among others.
“November Rain” appeared on GN’R’s 1991 album Use Your Illusion I. In 2018, its music video became the first one created before the advent of YouTube to surpass 1 billion views on the streaming platform.
“November Rain” played at Trump Michigan rally tonight. @SarahHuckabee writes in her book about how Trump added it to the playlist in 2018 and made SHS and Hope Hicks watch the Guns n Roses video in the Oval Office because it was the “greatest music video of all time.” pic.twitter.com/67T2veDdoS
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) September 10, 2020
