Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider is considering revoking the permission he gave Trump to use the band’s song “We’re Not Gonna Take It” on his campaign trail.
Snider knew that his politics diverged from Trump’s, but it seems Trump might have gone too far earlier this week when he floated an idea to ban Muslims from entering the U.S.
“What’s going on now has me questioning allowing the song to be continued to be used,” he told CBC Radio’s Shad. “And it’s very upsetting to me because I strongly don’t agree with his extremist positions. I know the man’s not a racist. He’s a friend of mine.”
He described Trump, who has the second-place spot in the Washington Examiner‘s presidential power rankings, as a guy you can “hang with, vacation with, party with,” but don’t want to discuss religion, politics or sports with, “because we know that can be the end of our relationships.”
According to Snider, he granted Trump access to “We’re Not Gonna Take It” in late November as a friendly favor, and he made it clear Thursday that “it’s not an endorsement.”
But now, after Trump seemingly crossed a line in his eyes, Snider said he is going to “have to call Donald” about using his song as he runs for the presidency.
“When you’ve got white supremacy groups aligning themselves with you and you don’t denounce them … that’s a problem for me,” Snider said.
When Snider originally allowed Trump to use his work, he said that the billionaire embodied the spirit of the song’s messages.
“I said, ‘Look, we don’t see eye to eye on everything — there are definitely issues that we’re far apart on,'” he told Canadian Business. “But thinking back to when I wrote the song and what the song is about, it’s about rebellion, speaking your mind and fighting the system. If anybody’s doing that, he sure is.”
Trump has drawn the ire of many musicians whose songs he has appropriated, including R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, Neil Young and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler.
