Donald Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung seemed to take a shot at the Republican’s Democratic rival in the 2024 election, Vice President Kamala Harris, by using her campaign song, Beyoncé’s “Freedom,” in a social media post.
On Tuesday, Cheung shared a video on X (formerly Twitter) showing Trump walking off his plane in Michigan for a campaign event, with “Freedom” playing in the background. As Trump passed a Secret Service van, he raised his fists in the air. Cheung captioned the post, “Touchdown in Michigan!!! @realDonaldTrump.”
https://twitter.com/TheStevenCheung/status/1825948172495237263
It is unclear whether the song was actually played at the scene or if the audio was added later by Cheung. Despite concerns raised in the comments about potential copyright infringement, the video remained online until Tuesday night, when The Hollywood Reporter noticed the post had been removed from the platform.
Earlier on Wednesday, Rolling Stone had reported that Beyoncé’s team threatened to send a cease-and-desist to the Trump campaign over the use of the song, which it reportedly did not receive permission for.
When contacted for comment on the video by The Hill, Cheung responded, “Freedom, freedom!”
Neither Cheung nor Beyoncé’s representatives have responded to The Hollywood Reporter‘s requests for 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 an ad with her running mate, Tim Walz. In the ad, Jeffrey Wright narrates, “What kind of America do we want? One where we’re divided, angry, depressed? C’mon! We’re Americans! Fascism? We conquered it. The moon? Landed on it. The future? Building it. Freedom? Nobody loves it more. And we fight for it.”
Trump, on the other hand, has faced legal trouble for using songs in his campaign without permission. Last week, Isaac Hayes’ estate sued him for 134 counts of copyright infringement after Trump Sam & Dave’s “Hold on, I’m Coming” at a rally, which was written by the late musician. Additionally, after Trump used Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” at a rally in Montana, Dion’s team condemned the unauthorized usage and questioned the song choice, writing, “… And really, that song?”
Jackie Strause contributed to this story.
This story originally posted at 10:44 a.m. and was first updated at 1:54 p.m. to add the report of Beyoncé’s team threatening to send a cease-and-desist.
