Donald Trump speaks during a rally in support of Republican incumbent senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue ahead of Senate run-off in Dalton, Georgia on 4 January, 2021.(AFP via Getty/ MANDEL NGAN)
Donald Trump pleading with Georgia election officials to “find” more votes has already been remixed with the song “Seasons of Love” from the musical Rent.
On Saturday (2 January), Trump spent an hour on the phone with the Republican secretary of state for Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, pressuring him to “find” enough votes to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the state’s presidential election.
According to AP News, Georgia found that Biden won by a margin of 11,779 votes, which were counted three times.
But in a recording of the phone call that has been widely circulating this week, Trump can be heard saying: “I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.”
Now, making Trump’s desperate pleas with the Georgia secretary of state even more ridiculous, YouTubers and musical quartet The Gregory Brothers have remixed the phone call with “Seasons of Love” from the musical Rent.
They wrote on Twitter: “Trump asks for 11,780 votes, but it’s to the tune of the Rent song.”
Trump asks for 11,780 votes, but it’s to the tune of the Rent songpic.twitter.com/EkyH5fTwAw
— The Gregory Brothers (@gregorybrothers) January 3, 2021
Twitter users were grateful from the moment of light relief amid the horror of an actual US president unashamedly trying to commit election fraud.
One wrote: “Thanks! I needed that laugh after listening to those tapes! A successful moment of levity.”
“I’m laughing but also crying,” said another.
I’m laughing but also crying…
— ❄☃️Ash at home😷☃️❄ (@ashfilledwords) January 3, 2021
One person suggested the song be titled “Seasons of Treason”, while another declared it “already the best tweet of 2021”.
I think it’s safe to say that Jonathan Larson would have been very proud. He was intensely political, and would have HATED Donald. I love this. https://t.co/4sidlTP50E
— Anthony Rapp Voted for Biden Black Lives Matter (@albinokid) January 4, 2021
Anthony Rapp, who originally played the role of Rent’s Mark Cohen on Broadway, shared the clip and wrote: “I think it’s safe to say that Jonathan Larson [who wrote Rent] would have been very proud.
“He was intensely political, and would have HATED Donald. I love this.”
The Gregory Brothers have promised to release a full-length version of the song.
In his potentially criminal phone call with Raffensperger, Trump also claimed, with no evidence, that thousands of votes had been illegally destroyed and told the secretary of state: “That’s a criminal offence, and you can’t let that happen.”
Raffensperger told Trump while on the call: “President Trump, we’ve had several lawsuits, and we’ve had to respond in court to the lawsuits and the contentions. We don’t agree that you have won.”