The USA Freedom Kids, a music group known for such memorable lyrics as “Cowardice, are you serious?” “Apologies for freedom — I can’t handle this!” “President Donald Trump knows how to make America great,” and “Deal from strength or get crushed every time,” have officially turned on their orange-haired benefactor. A performance at a Trump rally in Pensacola, Florida, launched the group into the public eye, but the group’s manager, Jeff Popick, is now suing the Trump campaign, claiming it reneged on a verbal agreement to pay for travel and expenses.
According to Popick, a field director for the Trump campaign said they weren’t able to pay the girls, but offered them a space to sell merchandise at the rally. Figuring they could make up the difference with T-shirt and CD sales, Popick agreed, but when he arrived at the rally no such space was available. Worse, after the girls performed, they returned to their car to discover all their merchandise had been stolen.
For any lesser group, that would’ve been it. But, encouraged by the promise of future gigs, the Freedom Kids agreed to appear at a Trump rally in Iowa — only to have the Trump campaign cancel on them after they’d flown cross-country. Then the campaign made them agree not to talk to the press, which was the last straw.
“This is not an opportunistic thing where we’re suing Donald Trump,” Popick told the Daily Beast. “We’re not suing for emotional distress and all that other stuff that people do when they trump up — no pun intended — when they trump up a lawsuit. That’s not what this is. This is tangible dollars I spent under false pretenses.” At least Trump is keeping the girls’ expectations realistic.
Mr. Popick wrote the lyrics for “Freedom’s Call,” the song the three girls — including his 9-year-old, Alexis — performed at the rally. The lyrics, sung to the tune of the World War I song “Over There,” included lines such as:
President Donald Trump knows how to make America great: Deal from strength or get crushed every time.
The video was viewed millions of times and was shared widely on social media. It drew ridicule from some online commentators. Mother Jones magazine called it “an apparent bid to land on the military’s torture playlist.” Others said it evoked North Korea-style patriotism.
In an email to a Trump aide on June 5, Mr. Popick said the girls took the criticism and lack of acknowledgment from the Trump campaign to heart, and that one of the girls was bullied because of the video.
Mr. Trump “is no stranger to untruthful journalism and venomous attacks from the liberal media; however, our little girls were not,” Mr. Popick wrote in the email, which was provided to The New York Times.
Mr. Popick started the group two and a half years ago. He said his daughter and the other girls were natural performers who could not get enough of being on stage. They’ve had gigs at local sporting events and performed outside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland last week during the Republican National Convention.
Mr. Popick said he had even reached out to Hillary Clinton about a performance before she declared her intent to run for president.
“We were saying to her, she’s an accomplished woman and I’m sure the girls would love to perform with her,” he said. He did not hear back.
After Mr. Trump announced his candidacy last summer, Mr. Popick contacted various members of the campaign staff. He said he asked for $2,500 for the Jan. 13 appearance in Pensacola, but a staff member instead offered a table to sell the group’s merchandise outside the event. But when they arrived, there was no table, Mr. Popick said, calling it a breach of contract.
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Even so, the campaign asked the group to perform again, he said.
About two weeks later, a campaign staff member called him and asked if the group could perform at an event in Des Moines the next day. Mr. Popick said he agreed it would be “huge exposure,” so he quickly bought nonstop flight tickets to Chicago for himself; his wife, Debbie; his daughter and two other girls.
But when they landed, planning to make the roughly five-hour drive to Des Moines, Mr. Popick was told that there would be no performance at the event. The group went instead as guests of the campaign, the girls wearing their costumes. Mr. Popick said he was not reimbursed for their travel costs.
In the months afterward, he said he contacted the campaign by text, phone and email, but could not get an answer about another performance, Mr. Popick said. He hired a lawyer and planned to file the lawsuit in the coming weeks, he said.
Mr. Popick said on Tuesday that it was “maybe a bad decision on my part” to get the group involved in politics. He said he planned to cut “Freedom’s Call” from the group’s coming debut album.
“This group is not Donald Trump’s kids,” he said. “It’s America’s kids, and that’s where we’re going to get back to.”
Mr. Popick, a former New Yorker, said he had admired Mr. Trump’s business acumen for decades, but he did not say whether he would support him in November.
According to Popick, a field director for the Trump campaign said they weren’t able to pay the girls, but offered them a space to sell merchandise at the rally. Figuring they could make up the difference with T-shirt and CD sales, Popick agreed, but when he arrived at the rally no such space was available. Worse, after the girls performed, they returned to their car to discover all their merchandise had been stolen.
For any lesser group, that would’ve been it. But, encouraged by the promise of future gigs, the Freedom Kids agreed to appear at a Trump rally in Iowa — only to have the Trump campaign cancel on them after they’d flown cross-country. Then the campaign made them agree not to talk to the press, which was the last straw.
“This is not an opportunistic thing where we’re suing Donald Trump,” Popick told the Daily Beast. “We’re not suing for emotional distress and all that other stuff that people do when they trump up — no pun intended — when they trump up a lawsuit. That’s not what this is. This is tangible dollars I spent under false pretenses.” At least Trump is keeping the girls’ expectations realistic.
Mr. Popick wrote the lyrics for “Freedom’s Call,” the song the three girls — including his 9-year-old, Alexis — performed at the rally. The lyrics, sung to the tune of the World War I song “Over There,” included lines such as:
President Donald Trump knows how to make America great: Deal from strength or get crushed every time.
The video was viewed millions of times and was shared widely on social media. It drew ridicule from some online commentators. Mother Jones magazine called it “an apparent bid to land on the military’s torture playlist.” Others said it evoked North Korea-style patriotism.
In an email to a Trump aide on June 5, Mr. Popick said the girls took the criticism and lack of acknowledgment from the Trump campaign to heart, and that one of the girls was bullied because of the video.
Mr. Trump “is no stranger to untruthful journalism and venomous attacks from the liberal media; however, our little girls were not,” Mr. Popick wrote in the email, which was provided to The New York Times.
Mr. Popick started the group two and a half years ago. He said his daughter and the other girls were natural performers who could not get enough of being on stage. They’ve had gigs at local sporting events and performed outside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland last week during the Republican National Convention.
Mr. Popick said he had even reached out to Hillary Clinton about a performance before she declared her intent to run for president.
“We were saying to her, she’s an accomplished woman and I’m sure the girls would love to perform with her,” he said. He did not hear back.
After Mr. Trump announced his candidacy last summer, Mr. Popick contacted various members of the campaign staff. He said he asked for $2,500 for the Jan. 13 appearance in Pensacola, but a staff member instead offered a table to sell the group’s merchandise outside the event. But when they arrived, there was no table, Mr. Popick said, calling it a breach of contract.
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Continue reading the main story
Even so, the campaign asked the group to perform again, he said.
About two weeks later, a campaign staff member called him and asked if the group could perform at an event in Des Moines the next day. Mr. Popick said he agreed it would be “huge exposure,” so he quickly bought nonstop flight tickets to Chicago for himself; his wife, Debbie; his daughter and two other girls.
But when they landed, planning to make the roughly five-hour drive to Des Moines, Mr. Popick was told that there would be no performance at the event. The group went instead as guests of the campaign, the girls wearing their costumes. Mr. Popick said he was not reimbursed for their travel costs.
In the months afterward, he said he contacted the campaign by text, phone and email, but could not get an answer about another performance, Mr. Popick said. He hired a lawyer and planned to file the lawsuit in the coming weeks, he said.
Mr. Popick said on Tuesday that it was “maybe a bad decision on my part” to get the group involved in politics. He said he planned to cut “Freedom’s Call” from the group’s coming debut album.
“This group is not Donald Trump’s kids,” he said. “It’s America’s kids, and that’s where we’re going to get back to.”
Mr. Popick, a former New Yorker, said he had admired Mr. Trump’s business acumen for decades, but he did not say whether he would support him in November.
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