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Former President Donald Trump, one of the liars. self promoter and one of the most famous exaggerations in American history. Claimed that the song featuring his voice was No. 1 on the list. billboard. It’s amazingly true. But what may not be true is that anyone is actually listening.
The song, as Trump claimed, topped the charts earlier this month, including on iTunes and iTunes. billboardBut that’s a very specific chart: digital sales aren’t the kind of popularity that music crushes. But the recording was never broken. billboardThe coveted Hot 100
That hasn’t stopped Trump from repeatedly boasting. about the success of the song It was a propaganda recording titled “Justice for All,” which blended the “J6 Choir” of imprisoned rioters singing the national anthem with Trump swearing their allegiance. Trump played to open a rally in Waco, Texas, last weekend.
“J6 (the choir) is beating Taylor Swift,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday, two days after the rally. “It’s Donald Trump and Prisoner J6 on iTunes and on Amazon and beyond. billboardWhich is a big deal,” he said, adding that “Now I feel like an Elvis.”
Not everyone is very excited. The official music video features scenes of violence from the Jan. 6 attacks, shown through “the rocket’s red glare. Bombs that explode in the air,” which included the shooting of Ashlee Bitt, a Trump supporter, were killed as she tried to break into the palace.
Former U.S. Attorney and Legal Analyst Barb McQuade for MSNBC called the song “a tragic riff”. The Guardian Report and Fox News host Brian Kilmeade said Monday:crazyfor Trump to play the video at the rally.
Kilmeade may have made two points there – not only did the song distort and celebrate one of the darkest days in American democratic history, it also had a ton of twists and turns. But it’s not as popular either.
earlier this month billboard—“which is a big deal,” according to Trump himself—provides significant context in the second paragraph of the report about the song. The article, which debuted at #1 on iTunes on March 11, had 33,000 purchased downloads from March 10-16. Meanwhile, that week clocked only “442,000 official US streams and 25,000 among US radio audiences.”
by comparison billboard The week’s most streamed song—Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night”—had 38.9 million streams, and the No. 1 radio show – “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus had 106.7 million viewers.
That means Trump listened to about 1 percent online and less than half of 1 percent of radio broadcasts for popular songs that same week.
So while more and more people are buying Trump recordings. But it was not popular. in fact The track appears to peak at 105 on. billboard(The Hill also reports that “Justice for All” did not make it to Spotify’s Top 50 Most Streamed Songs chart on the day it reached No. 1.)
Surprisingly, the song landed on the iTunes sales chart prior to the Trump rally on March 25. As of March 23, it was at number four. But the following day the rank dropped to 26th, then dropped again to 33rd on the day of the rally.
And who is responsible for this project? Where did the money go?
A day before the song’s March 3 release, Forbes reported that in addition to Trump recording the pledges at his Mar-a-Lago resort, the effort was led by an executive appointee. Vice President Rump and Kash Patel, along with former Fox News anchor Ed Henry.
Coincidentally, Patel and Henry both faced the prospect of higher legal fees. Patel found himself in the eyes of the Department of Justice. Especially because of his involvement in the investigation of Mar-a-Lago’s classified documents. Henry has been fighting a rape case in New York for more than two years. An amended version of the original complaint was filed against him in late December under the state’s new “survivor law.”
Proceeds from the sale, Forbes reports, will first go to an LLC overseen by Henry, which will distribute the proceeds. That profit will allegedly end up with the families of some imprisoned for their role in the January 6 deadly attack on the US Capitol building, according to Forbes. that there were no recipients of the attack on the police (Although the official video Henry posted in the Rumble honored the rioters clashing with law enforcement.)
But this setup doesn’t seem very clean on paper.
Henry appears to have an LLC, a legal entity known as “EH42 Productions”, which he set up to “Journalism” in Maryland eight years ago. According to state records, however, Henry also appeared in a new non-profit organization, pronounced “The New York Times.” “Project Justice for All,” which attempted to merge as a 501(c)(3) in Florida on March 14, 12 days after Forbes reported, and three days after the recording began mass sales.
But if the nonprofit is processing the proceeds may be subject to dubious legal conditions The state of Florida rejected the organization’s initial application. It cited improper signatures, and as of Wednesday, the group has yet to file a revised petition. according to state records
A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which regulates charitable activities in the state, told The Daily Beast on Wednesday that The Justice For All Project “is not registered with the department to solicit donations.”
Besides Henry The nonprofit also features former Trump administration official Tom Homan. Homan served for Trump as acting chief of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. and he is the focus of Inflatable 2019 Congressional Hearings on his role in shaping the White House’s child segregation policy. (Homan also served on the Barack Obama administration and won “Presidential Rating” after which he seems to start drowsy at the MAGA Awards)
Homan is scheduled to speak at the far-right political conference of white supremacist Nick Fuentes this February. he appeared This month, Homan was named the CEO of another Florida-based nonprofit, “The America Project,” led by conspiracy theorists to “save the world.” Pro-Trump elected Joe Flynn (brother of Trump’s national security adviser Mike Flynn) and Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne.
Amanda Freytes, another member of the Justice For All document, is also part of Project America, where she is a communications officer.
Patel also sang this song. A promotional popup darkens the home screen of his own nonprofit website. which also sells music-related t-shirts “All net proceeds” will be given to the “example case” of prisoners on January 6, calling them “victims.”
It’s unclear if T-shirt sales count as a (tax-deductible) donation to the nonprofit or as a personal transaction. The checkout page doesn’t clarify and still asks for donations in addition to purchases.
Patel, who played a key role in Trump’s efforts to overturn his election defeat. Including in the Mar-a-Lago secret document scandal founded a nonprofit last year. The agency has raised questions from legal experts in addition to criticizing the payment of thousands of dollars to what it calls a “privacy.” “The FBI whistleblower,” ABC News reported this month.
But it was clear that the song was definitely not popular. According to news sources who spoke to billboardThe production group behind the recordings, Mailman Media, were initially unconvinced of their success. The tape was first released on March 3 with a “soft marketing launch” to test the public response. “before adding promotion”
These promotions kick off about a week later. Right-wing streaming channel Real America’s Voice first cracked on March 9, after which the official video debuted on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast. March 9 and 10. Of the 33,000 items sold that week, about 39 percent came the next day, media reported.
On March 11, Trump pumped the song onto his Truth Social social media account. Patel also gave an interview to right-wing Breitbart.
“We basically disrupt the music industry is what we do here,” Patel said in the interview, adding, “We’re going to release music that speaks to what’s on the minds of a lot of Americans.”
That’s not a huge number, as Variety reported earlier this month. Online sales represent A “small fraction” of the music industry
“Political songs tend to hit No. 1 on iTunes, where only a few thousand songs a day are usually sold on the charts,” Variety reports.
The article also pointed out that Kid Rock’s 2022 anti-Biden song “We the People” took No. 1 for iTunes sales, as did YG’s 2020 rap song “FDT (Fuck Donald Trump).”
(Tag for translation)Donald J. Trump
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