GUNS N' ROSES' Cover Of 'Live And Let Die' Played Before TRUMP's Speech In Ohio

GUNS N' ROSES' rendition of "Live And Let Die" was played on loudspeakers earlier today (Thursday, August 6) before President Donald Trump's scheduled speech at the Whirlpool Corp.'s washing machine manufacturing plant in Clyde, Ohio.

A reporter covering the event tweeted video of the GUNS N' ROSES version of the WINGS track blaring on the live feed. The Intercept writer Robert Mackey wrote in an accompanying message: "The White House is playing "Live And Let Die" before Trump's arrival at a thinly disguised campaign event in Ohio that the state's governor cannot attend because he just came down with Covid-19, the disease that killed over 1,400 Americans yesterday."

Earlier today, Ohio governor Mike DeWine tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of meeting with Trump. According to his office, DeWine took a test as part of the standard protocol to greet Trump on the tarmac at Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland.

This is not the first time GUNS N' ROSES' cover of "Live And Let Die" has been played at a Trump event in the pandemic era. Back in May, Trump visited a manufacturing plant without wearing a face mask as the song played on loudspeakers during his visit. Video footage of Trump's visit went viral because he and his entourage were at a Honeywell factory in Phoenix to witness the production of anti-COVID-19 N95 masks.

In response to the Internet hoopla, GUNS N' ROSES released a shirt features the slogan "Live N' Let Die With COVID 45", apparently referencing the fact that Trump is the 45th president of the United States.

"Live And Let Die" was originally written by Sir Paul McCartney for the 1973 James Bond film of the same name, and performed by WINGS. The song was covered by GUNS N' ROSES on their 1991 album "Use Your Illusion I", and it has since become a staple of the group's live set.

GUNS N' ROSES singer Axl Rose has frequently spoken out against the Trump administration, most recently in July, when he defended his right to voice his political opinions, saying that he feels an "obligation to say something" about the "irresponsibility of this administration."

Back in November 2016, Rose took to Twitter to condemn then-President-elect Donald Trump's choice for U.S. attorney general, and to berate Trump for demanding an apology from the cast of the Broadway show "Hamilton" after then-Vice President-elect Mike Pence was booed when he attended the musical. One month later, Rose invited fans at a GUNS N' ROSES concert in Mexico City to beat the crap out of a large piñata designed to look like Trump.

In January 2018, Axl blasted the Trump administration as the "gold standard of what can be considered disgraceful."

Photo credit: Katarina Benzova