The politics of playlists: How Trump and Harris are using music to reach voters
After two medical incidents in the crowd delayed former President Donald Trump’s town hall-style campaign stop in Oaks, Pennsylvania, on Monday, the former president said, “Let’s not do any more questions. Let’s just listen to music.”
Trump directed his campaign staff to play a nearly 40-minute playlist of songs ranging from Rufus Wainwright’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” to Luciano Pavarotti singing “Ave Maria” and James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World.”
The music selected for campaign rallies often provides a glimpse into a presidential nominee’s values and political messages. It also reflects their desire to be seen as relatable across multiple generations, sexual orientations and overall musical tastes, which are as diverse as the voting public.
Here's a look at some of the songs the campaigns have used and how music has affected presidential politics this election cycle.
Songs Trump uses on the 2024 campaign trail
- “The Winner Takes It All,” “Money, Money, Money” and “Dancing Queen” | Abba
- "God Bless the U.S.A." | Lee Greenwood
- “Sweet Home Alabama” | Lynyrd Skynyrd
- “Eye of the Tiger” | Survivor
- “YMCA” and “Macho Man” | The Village People
- “My Way” | Frank Sinatra
- “All Summer Long” | Kid Rock
- “We Will Rock You” | Queen
- “Tiny Dancer” | Elton John
- “Nothing Compares 2 U” | Sinéad O’Connor
- “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” | The Rolling Stones
- "Sweet Child O' Mine" | Guns N' Roses
- “Candle In The Wind” | Elton John
More: The beats go on: Trump keeps dancing as artists get outraged over his use of their songs
Trump walks out to ‘God Bless The U.S.A.’
Just two days after Trump survived a shocking assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, he made an appearance during the first night of the Republican National Convention.
The former president walked out to thunderous applause to take his seat as Lee Greenwood sang Trump’s go-to rally song, “God Bless The U.S.A.” Trump waved to the crowd as the lyrics, “I’m proud to be an American” rang out in the arena.
Kid Rock performs at the RNC
On the final night of the Republican National Convention, singer Kid Rock performed to support Trump, who he routinely calls his “great friend.”
When he took the stage, he chanted “fight, fight,” echoing what the former president said after the first assassination attempt against him. The performance also featured a mashup of his songs “Cowboy” and “American Bad Ass.” Trump has used the latter when entering the arena at UFC events.
‘My Heart Will Go On’ at a Trump rally
Poor music choices can also impact a campaign. Trump’s critics seized the opportunity to poke fun at his campaign when Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” played at one of his rallies in August.
The song is famously from James Cameron’s film "Titanic" about the 1912 shipwreck. Although “My Heart Will Go On” is not about the shipwreck, its inclusion at the rally allowed his opponents to draw parallels between a sinking ship and his campaign.
The decision to play the song also resulted in more bad publicity for Trump when Dion responded. She said his use of the song was unauthorized, joining a growing list of artists who have asked the former president not to use their songs on the campaign trail.
Songs Harris uses on the 2024 campaign trail
- “Freedom” | Beyoncé featuring Kendrick Lamar
- "ABC" | The Jackson 5
- “God is a Woman” | Ariana Grande
- “Cruel Summer” | Taylor Swift
- "Mr. Brightside" | The Killers
- “FREEDOM” | Jon Batiste
- “So American” | Olivia Rodrigo
- "I'm Coming Out" | Diana Ross
- “Respect” | Aretha Franklin
- “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” | The Temptations
‘kamala IS brat’
Shortly after President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid for the White House, and Vice President Kamala Harris ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket, pop star Charli XCX posted one simple sentence to X. “kamala IS brat,” she wrote.
The Harris campaign team took Charli XCX’s words as an endorsement and ran with the meme, even rebranding their social media accounts to include the album’s signature font and lime green color for an extended period of time.
Harris and Taylor Swift’s ‘Cruel Summer’
A major endorsement came swiftly after Harris and Trump’s presidential debate on Sept. 10.
Superstar Taylor Swift posted a photo of her with one of her three cats and a four-paragraph caption endorsing Harris. She said AI-generated images of her endorsing Trump that the former president posted made her realize she needed to be transparent about her plans for this year’s election.
She added that the vice president is a “steady-handed, gifted leader.”
Harris launches first ad with Beyoncé’s ‘Freedom’
When Harris launched her first campaign video ad, she wanted to send a clear message with her song choice of Beyoncé’s “Freedom.”
The 2016 hit is played throughout the video as Harris declares, “In this election, we each face a question: What kind of country do we want to live in? There are some people who think we should be a country of chaos, of fear, of hate. But us, we choose something different. We choose freedom.”
According to CNN, Beyoncé’s camp gave the vice president quick approval to use the song throughout her bid for president just hours before she played it on the campaign trail.
No artists have publicly asked Harris to stop using their music, though Paste BN could not confirm if any have reached out privately to the campaign.
Reach Rachel Barber at rbarber@usatoday.com and follow her on X @rachelbarber_