Why did Trump dump YMCA at SC rally? Trump snubs 'gay national anthem', but sticks with 'Macho Man'
Donald Trump pulled the disco fan-favorite song YMCA off his rally playlist in South Carolina on Saturday, March 12, after labeling it the "gay national anthem" in an interview earlier in the week. Trump did not play YMCA at his event in Florence, South Carolina which generally energizes the crowd with its coordinated arm gestures.
The Village People's 1978 song was usually played at the end of the former president's rallies, and he was often pictured doing a little jig to the melody. However, he has recently been concluding his remarks with the duet 'Hold On I'm Coming' by Sam & Dave from 1966.
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It came after he was asked if he had a favorite song during a podcast session with Full Send taped Wednesday, March 9, from Mar-a-Lago. "You know what gets 'em rocking? YMCA," Trump said.
"YMCA -- the gay national anthem. Did you ever hear that? The gay national anthem," Trump added. Despite the fact that 'YMCA' did not play at Trump's Saturday rally, another well-known Village People tune, 'Macho Man', blared from the speakers prior of Trump's remarks on that evening.
Trump's rally playlists are usually quite stable, with the exception of the occasional addition or omission. When tensions with North Korea were high during Trump's presidency, he would play Elton John's Rocket Man in reference to the dictator's many nuclear tests. That song, however, has since fallen out of favor as the spotlight has shifted away from US-North Korean tensions and Trump's back-and-forth with Kim Jong-un.
With the Full Send episode, the former president revealed how he entertains guests at his Mar-a-Lago property. The YMCA, he noted, is always a favorite among the club's visitors. During a wide-ranging podcast interview, he boasted about his "high aptitude" for music and detailed his new job as a disc jockey serenading Mar-a-Lago members on Friday and Saturday nights.
During the conversation, Trump also discussed his particular preference for Broadway show tunes and his attitude about scratching records and remixing sounds. "I pick the ones I like." Trump said of his DJing method, "I don't want to spin, I want to pick the ones I like."
At his rallies, Trump has been known to play the famous disco hit and he has been known to move a little to the beat himself. Trump is still doing rallies, but he's spending more time at Mar-a-Lago, where it was reported last month that he'd hired himself as an entertainer. "Great music will be played at dinner on Friday and Saturday evenings, with President Trump playing disc jockey," according to a February 2 memo to visitors. "The music will be amazing, it will be a lot of fun, and will go until the late evening," according to a note received by the New York Times.
On Wednesday, March 9, Trump stated that he had "a lot of good selections" and that "people love it when I do it." He challenged one of the Full Send hosts' claims that the chart-topping vintage tune YMCA was "underrated" at one point.
"Well it gets a lot of views, I can say," Trump countered. He has expressed his enthusiasm for Broadway musicals, citing The Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables as two of his favorites.
