Celine Dion Calls Out Trump Campaign’s Titanic Misstep
It seems premature to characterize Donald Trumpâs presidential campaign as a âsinking ship.â But as singer CĂ©line Dion alluded Saturday, thatâs exactly what organizers of a rally for the former president just did, using a song that evoked comparisons to one of the most notable disasters of the modern era. Was it a misstep, a Freudian slip, or an admission that things havenât been going so great? Thatâs unclear, but whatâs crystal is that Dion doesnât want any part of it.
It all went down at Trumpâs Bozeman, Montana rally on Fridayâyes, the same rally that was directly preceded by the GOP frontrunnerâs threats to sue the New York Times for their reporting that a near-death helicopter ride Trump claimed he took with former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown never happened. After Trump made the reportedly shout-filled threat, he headed to a rally at Montana State Universityâs 8,455-seat Brick Breeden Field House.
According to the Daily Montanan, Trump subjected those assembled at his first rally since Democratic nominee for president Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate to âa meandering speech that lasted more than an hour and a half.â During that speech, per PolitiFact, he presented his usual slate of misinformation and falsehoods, including incorrect claims about the inflation rate during his presidency and lies about Harrisâs stated positions on immigration and border control.
Racism and xenophobia were also in ample supply, with the former president proclaiming that after he is elected, expect âa Trump mass deportation, because we have no choice. We have no choice. If Harris wins, a never-ending stream of illegal alien rapists.â
But before Trump took the stage, the campaign took a less confident note. As widely shared on social media, the gigantic video monitors at the event played CĂ©line Dion performing her iconic 1997 song, âMy Heart Will Go On,â which is internationally known as the theme song to James Cameronâs epic disaster movie, Titanic. Thatâs right, they used the theme song from a movie about hubris, denial, and a high-profile catastrophe to entertain the rally crowd. You canât make this stuff up.
When Dion caught wind of the use of her song and image Saturday, she issued a swift rebuke.
âToday, Celine Dionâs management team and her record label, Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc., became aware of the unauthorized usage of the video, recording, musical performance, and likeness of Celine Dion singing âMy Heart Will Go Onâ at a Donald Trump / JD Vance campaign rally in Montana,â the artist wrote in a statement posted to X (formerly Twitter) and elsewhere. (We should note here that Vance was not in attendance at the Bozeman rally, nor did a discussion of his qualities appear prominently in the remarks made on stage.)
âIn no way is this use authorized, and Celine Dion does not endorse this or any similar use,â Dion continued, before ending with the question that weâre all sort of asking. ââŠAnd really, THAT song?â
As of publication time, neither Trump nor his campaign have publicly responded to Dion and her diss heard âround the world, nor have they explained why a song so closely linked to a movie about how callow rich people saved themselves while allowing the so-called common folks to die made sense for a political rally at which a self-described rich person dominated the spotlight. One can certainly guess how Trump is responding to this in private, though.
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