Lara Trump Reignites Tom Petty Drama

Lara Trump's new acoustic cover of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" has rekindled the drama surrounding the track online, as the 41-year-old sharing an acoustic version of the classic rock song.

In September, Lara Trump—wife of Eric Trump, Donald Trump's son—had already released a cover of the 1989 hit by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Her choice to use this particular song was dubbed a "cheap move" on social media, due to the cease-and-desist letter Petty's family sent to the former president after the latter used the track at a campaign rally in 2020.

Shortly after that release, Lara Trump also said Apple Music was shadow-banning her, purposefully making her cover of the song difficult to find. Now, the former TV producer has accused Spotify of not approving the new acoustic version of the track, writing "No surprise here."

"Suppression of my newest acoustic single, I Won't Back Down, has already begun," she posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday.

"Spotify hasn't yet 'approved' it (for reasons they cannot explain) but, you can find it everywhere else!! Thanks to everyone who has already streamed and downloaded!!"

Newsweek has reached out to Lara Trump for comment via Instagram, Tom Petty's estate and Spotify via email.

The issue appeared to be resolved by Sunday, with Trump sharing a clip of her performing the track, along with the caption: "(Finally) available everywhere!!!" Newsweek has verified on that the song was indeed available on Spotify on Monday.

The clip has received 2 million views so far, but Lara Trump's decision to post a second cover of the song divided opinion online, with many users slamming the former TV producer.

"Who told you this was a good idea?" asked one user. "God this is so cringe," commented another.

"Oh my god, this is awful. Our neighbor's dog just started howling," said Travis Akers.

@mankindtracer compared Trump's voice to a "5th grader singing in a school play," adding "@tompetty isn't just rolling over in his grave, he's digging it deeper!"

"What did Tom Petty ever do to you?" asked Britt, while Louisiana Blue said: "Hell now has a theme song."

Others were more supportive of Trump, with Ankush Sharma writing: "Lara Trump is an American gem."

"Aww very nicely done. Love the song," said Simon Wu. "Awesome!" agreed JBH, while Benny Rosalez commented: "She's so cute [singing]."

After Donald Trump used "I Won't Back Down" at a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2020, the late musician's family issued a cease-and-desist letter to the former president.

In a statement shared to social media, the rock star's two daughters—Adria and Annakim—Petty's ex-wife Jane, and his widow Dana said that the Petty family "doesn't stand for this."

"Trump was in no way authorized to use this song to further a campaign that leaves too many Americans and common sense behind," the statement read.

"Both the late Tom Petty and his family firmly stand against racism and discrimination of any kind. Tom Petty would never want a song of his used for a campaign of hate. He liked to bring people together."

Despite the lack of approval from the Petty family, Lara Trump found a way around by making her own version of the song. However, the release wasn't smooth sailing.

"Hey, @Apple—where is my song???" she asked the tech giant on September 29 in an X post. "Why doesn't my song appear when you search 'I Won't Back Down'???"

Her husband Eric Trump, 39, repeated his wife's claims on social, posting to X: "Apple appears to be viscously shadow banning LaraLeaTrump new song, which immediately upon release, was 31st on the ITunes charts.

"Lara's name, when typed in full, is hardly viable and can only be found below 'Fake News II.' The song itself is unsearchable."

In an interview with Fox News on October 5, Trump said her song was purportedly shadow-banned for being "too political," and that she was one of many conservative figures being "censored."

"It's really sad, because this is the kind of treatment that I think conservatives are used to. We're used to being censored, we're used to being shadow-banned," she told host Sean Hannity.

"I already know my song was shadow-banned, so many people told me, on Apple Music, on Spotify, on Amazon Music. They wouldn't put my song on the radio because it was too political."

Newsweek has contacted Apple Music and Amazon Music.