During the 2016, 2020 and 2024 US presidential election campaigns, the list of musicians who voiced their opposition to their songs being used by Donald Trump was long, ranging from ABBA to the White Stripes, and — at some point — the Village People.

In June 2020, the band's frontman, Victor Willis, publically objected to the Trump campaign's use of Village People songs at his rallies. Criticising Trump's threat to use military force against Black Lives Matter protesters, Willis then wrote on Facebook, "Sorry, but I can no longer look the other way."

Money talks

But Willis later had a change of tune, noticing that "Y.M.C.A." was enjoying renewed success during the 2024 campaign: As Trump kept using the iconic hit at his rallies, the 46-year-old track spent several weeks at the top of Billboard's hottest-selling dance songs chart.  

"The financial benefits have been great as well, as 'Y.M.C.A.' is estimated to gross several million dollars since the President-elect's continued use of the song," Willis acknowledged in a Facebook post in December 2024.