The Associated Press recently fact-checked a “wildly off-key” clip of Lara Trump singing the Tom Petty hit “I Won’t Back Down” on a news broadcast — and doing it a cappella.
Trump recorded her version of the song several weeks ago, at which time former Co-First Son Eric Trump bitterly complained that “Apple appears to be viscously shadow banning” (yes, he said “viscously”).
Lara herself promoted the song during a Sky News Australia broadcast, during which she explained the recording and busted out a few lines sans accompaniment:
“ANCHOR: Now, Lara, I cannot let you go without bringing up something I saw on your social media this week. And that was a release of a single that you have apparently recorded. Is this fake news or is this real?
LARA TRUMP: You are so nice. Let me just start by saying that I am not a professional singer. I’m not seeking this as a career. I have always loved music. I’ve played the piano my whole life, and I got an opportunity to record a cover of an incredible song, Tom Petty’s I Won’t Back Down. And I said, Who would turn this down if you get an opportunity like this? So I’m sure I’ll get a lot of critique from all the haters out there of my voice and my singing ability. I’m great on a karaoke stage after people have had a couple of drinks. But I’m very proud of what I’ve done, and I think it’s a great track and it’s a new spin on a song that so many people now, so really excited that it comes out officially today here in America.
ANCHOR: Well, you have to sing us a line here on air. And come on.
LARA TRUMP: I’ll do my I’ll do my best without any music or anything. Okay. (sings) Well, I won’t back down. No, I won’t back down. You can stand me up at the gates of hell, but I won’t back down.
And there’s more to come.
ANCHOR: That was amazing. Clap, clap, clap. Well done. Thank you so much for that. Without any notice at all. And it sounds very much like a campaign jingle. We’ll, watch that space.”
After versions of that clip went viral, AP fact-checked one that they found to be “manipulated”:
“In recent days, a clip that appears to show Trump then singing the song’s opening lines wildly off-key has circulated widely on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, where the original post received more than 9,000 likes as of Friday.
“Lara Trump sings her new original single ‘Won’t Back Down’ (which totally wasn’t stolen from Tom Petty) live on air… it goes about as well as you’d expect,” reads the post.
However, this video has been edited to change Trump’s vocals. The full segment posted on Sky News Australia’s YouTube channel last Friday shows Trump was not singing wildly out of tune, as the widespread video on social media suggests.”
The clip in question does, indeed, differ significantly from the original source material:
Lara Trump sings her new original single "Won't Back Down" (which totally wasn't stollen from Tom Petty) live on air… it goes about as well as you'd expect 😳 pic.twitter.com/z40qrLoOe7
— LeGate (@williamlegate) October 5, 2023
