Donald Trump’s visit Tuesday to an Arizona factory that makes N95 masks, during which he notably did not wear one, received an oddly on-the-nose soundtrack: Guns ‘N Roses’ cover of the “James Bond” theme song “Live and Let Die.”
The odd moment came as Trump was touring the facility owned by industrial products manufacturer Honeywell, located in Phoenix. As a Honeywell employee explained various features and functions of the masks and a technician assembled one of them, their conversation was almost entirely drowned out by the song, which blasted from the factory floor loudspeakers at what sounds like top volume.
See (and hear) for yourself in the video, via Reuters, at the top of the screen.
Naturally, critics on social media assumed the song was some kind of a prank, as the title could easily stand in for the criticism of Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Trump has been called out for what critics say is a constantly shifting narrative about his success combatting the pandemic, reports that the White House disregarded multiple warnings about the seriousness of the virus, and Vice President Mike Pence’s assertion this week that Trump may disband the coronavirus task force entirely by the end of the month. Oh, and also his refusal to wear masks around other people.
However, it might just have been an unintentionally hilarious coincidence. According to the Los Angeles Times, other music that played during Trump’s factory visit included “God Bless the U.S.A.” by Lee Greenwood, and “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor, pretty normal music for a Trump event. We may never know the answer, but at least we can all agree that coronavirus sucks, and “Live and Let Die” (originally written and performed by Paul McCartney) is a really good song.