Trump Defies Brian May by Using 'We Are the Champions'

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Donald Trump added insult to injury on Monday night when he walked out on stage to Queen’s classic rock hit, “We Are the Champions” at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

The defiant move came after the band’s guitarist, Brian May, had made a public statement last month asking the GOP presumptive nominee not to use the 1977 hit for his political campaign.

“I’ve had an avalanche of complaints – some of which you can see in our ‘LETTERS’ page – about Donald Trump using our ‘We Are the Champions’ track as his ‘theme’ song on USA TV,” May wrote on his personal website June 8.

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“This is not an official Queen statement, but I can confirm that permission to use the track was neither sought nor given.

“We are taking advice on what steps we can take to ensure this use does not continue. Regardless of our views on Mr Trump’s platform, it has always been against our policy to allow Queen music to be used as a political campaigning tool,” May, who turns 69 on Tuesday, continued.

“Our music embodies our own dreams and beliefs, but it is for all who care to listen and enjoy.”

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Clearly the British rock star’s polite request was ignored as Trump stormed the stage amidst a dramatic smokescreen to greet his supporters at the Quicken Loans Arena to kick off the four-day extravaganza.

The polarizing presidential candidate also had the song blasting out of the sound system as he escorted wife, Melania Trump, off the stage following her passionate speech.

Needless to say, the GOP candidate’s use of a song that was originally written and performed by late rock legend Freddie Mercury, who died of bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS in 1991, sparked outrage on social media, especially among the LGBT community.

See the tweets below.

Hey #RNCinCLE . Don't play "We Are the Champions" by Queen, or any other song sung by GLBT people, if you don't recognize GLBT rights.

— Dan Ramos (@RepDanRamos) July 19, 2016

We Are The Champions blasting at the #RNCinCLE is infuriating. Got the worst platform on LGBT issues in generations? Step off QUEEN.

— Cameron Esposito (@cameronesposito) July 19, 2016

@realDonaldTrump enters #RNCinCLE through fog and Queen's "We Are The Champions"? Shhh, don't him it's become an LBGT anthem. Funny stuff.

— polymer noyz (@polymernoyz) July 19, 2016

I *demand* someone take "We Are The Champions" out of this clip and substitute "Liar" or "Death On Two Legs". #Queen https://t.co/ydZWKiBGfb

— James Auburn (@GetJamesAuburn) July 19, 2016

Now that Trump came out to We Are The Champions, I can document the exact time I'll never play a Queen recording again.

— Vito Aiello (@iVito51) July 19, 2016

Donald Drumpf came out to "We are the champions". A song sung by a famously gay, African-born singer. "Make America Great" my ass. #Queen

— Nick Earl (@NickEarlActor) July 19, 2016

#trump just came out to #Queen "We are the champions" I wonder if he and #Pence know the lead singer was gay????? since they're homophobes

— Mr. AOL (@PastorToone) July 19, 2016

@GeekyGeekyWays @Karnythia My brain melted when he walked out to we are the champions after all the homophobia his party was spitting…

— GreySoul (@GreySoulisthena) July 19, 2016

Trump, in smoky shadow, enters to "We Are the Champions." Freddie Mercury just died again. #RNCinCLie

— Jennifer Weiner (@jenniferweiner) July 19, 2016

FYI, "We are the Champions," being played right now at #RNCinCLE. was sung/written by a bi-sexual, Indian man with ancient Persian religion.

— Niraj Warikoo (@nwarikoo) July 19, 2016

Donald Trump's Biggest Feuds, Fights and Foes: From Rosie O' Donnell to Univision (Photos)

Donald Trump doesn't seem to be afraid to make enemies. His blustery threats and relentless dealmaking have caused him to run afoul of politicians, celebrities, models and more. Here are just a few of the people Trump has locked horns with over the years.
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In 1973, the U.S. Justice Department sued Trump's real-estate company, accusing it of refusing to rent apartments in New York and Virginia to African-Americans. Trump countersued the DOJ for defamation, seeking $100 million in damages. Trump settled the case.
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Arguably no celebrity has been a bigger target for Trump than Rosie O' Donnell. Their feud began back in 2006, when O'Donnell called Trump a "snake-oil salesman on 'Little House On the Prairie'" on "The View." Trump said he would "look forward to taking lots of money from my nice fat little Rosie."
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In the '80s, Trump was a popular target of the satirical publication Spy Magazine. After the magazine called him a "short-fingered vulgarian" in 1988, Trump predicted the magazine's demise and said that his fingers "are long and beautiful, as, it has been well documented, are various other parts of my body.”
Univision dropped Trump's Miss USA pageant from its programming after his comments about Mexican immigrants at the start of his presidential campaign. Trump responded by suing the network for $500 million. The lawsuit was settled in February.

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Trump ejected Univision's main news anchor, Jorge Ramos, from a news conference during his campaign. Ramos had attempted to ask Trump about his immigration policies. "Go back to Univision," Trump said.

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Former Miss USA contestant Sheena Monnin accused the pageant, which Trump owns, of being rigged. Trump responded by filing and winning a $5 million defamation lawsuit against Monnin. She later said her situation with Trump "has been resolved" and that no money was paid out of my pocket."

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Trump repeatedly attacked Sen. Ted Cruz during the Republican Primary. The most infamous attack came on March 22, when he threatened to "spill the beans" on Cruz's wife on Twitter after a Super PAC affiliated with Cruz posted a picture of Trump's wife, Melania, from a nude GQ photo shoot. Cruz endorsed Trump last week.

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In 1993, Trump's Atlantic City casino was falling behind the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, which is owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. Trump's reaction? While testifying before a Congressional subcommittee, he claimed that "it’s obvious that organized crime is rampant on the Indian reservations" and that the Pequot "don't look like Indians to me."
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In 2011, Trump repeatedly demanded President Barack Obama's birth certificate, claiming he wasn't born in the United States. After Obama released the birth certificate, he belittled Trump during the White House Correspondents Dinner.
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In an interview with "Today," Cole Bolton, editor-in-chief of The Onion, revealed the humor site received a letter from Trump's lawyer over a satirical op-ed supposedly from Trump entitled, "When You're Feeling Low, Just Remember I'll Be Dead In 15 or 20 Years."
Trump also attempted to sue Bill Maher when the comedian joked on "Real Time" that if Trump could provide proof that his biological father is not an orangutan, he would donate $5 million to the charity of Trump's choice. Trump took him up on that offer, and then sued to try to get Maher to pay the money. The lawsuit was later withdrawn.
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The success of "The Apprentice" inspired NBC to make a spinoff starring Martha Stewart. But Trump wrote an open letter blasting Stewart for the show failing to take off. "I knew it would fail as soon as I first saw it -- and your low ratings bore me out," he wrote.

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In a May 15 front page New York Times article, former Miss Universe Alicia Machado accused Trump of using her weight problems as a media opportunity shortly after she won the Miss Universe pageant. "He's always been white trash, a racist, a horrible person," she said.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren tweeted that Trump sounded like a "two-bit dictator" and a "pathetic coward who can't stand that he's losing to a girl." Trump has responded by calling Warren "Pocahontas," referring to Warren's contested claim in 2012 that she had Native American ancestry.
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Perhaps Trump's most famous confrontation this year was with Khizr and Ghazala Khan, whose son was killed in the Iraq War. Khzir Khan declared that Trump "sacrificed nothing and no one," to which Trump suggested that Khan's wife did not speak at the convention because she "wasn't allowed to."
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The GOP candidate was making enemies long before 2016

Donald Trump doesn't seem to be afraid to make enemies. His blustery threats and relentless dealmaking have caused him to run afoul of politicians, celebrities, models and more. Here are just a few of the people Trump has locked horns with over the years.

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Donald Trump's Biggest Feuds, Fights and Foes: From Rosie O' Donnell to Univision (Photos)

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