July 27, 2016

We all heard the song, whose beginning sounds a little like Blondie's Heart of Glass. The song, also known as "Freedom's Call" quickly reminds you it is nothing like the late 70's hit as it morphs into the medley of the song Over There.

The singing and dancing trio are three young ladies, also known as USA Freedom Kids. The group went viral thanks to their appearance at a Pensacola, FL. rally for Donald Trump. They captivated the Apprentice star and then-candidate Trump, so he planned on featuring them at future events, with pay, of course. Or so they thought... (sound familiar?)

The Washington Post explains:

That infectious performance kicked off a flurry of media appearances. The Freedom Kids told "Inside Edition" that Trump told them that he planned to listen to their CD all night. The group, which had been around for about 2½ years by that point, was a viral sensation largely inextricable from Trump himself.

Now, though, the relationship is different. Jeff Popick, father of the smallest Freedom Kid and author of "Freedom's Call," told The Washington Post by phone on Monday that he planned to file a lawsuit against the campaign for violating its agreement with the group.

"This is not a billion-dollar lawsuit," Popick said. "I'm doing this because I think they have to do the right thing. And if this means having to go through the court system to enforce them doing the right thing, then that's what I have to do. I'm not looking to do battle with the Trump campaign, but I have to show my girls that this is the right thing."
Popick is quick to explain that the agreement was not written down, but, instead, involves promises from various agents of the Trump campaign which he says were then broken.

It started in Pensacola. When Popick first reached out to the Trump campaign about performing, he spoke with various people including former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. His understanding from the campaign was that the Kids would make two appearances in Florida, where Popick lives. The first event didn't come to fruition, and Popick says he asked for $2,500 in payment for the second performance, in Pensacola. The campaign made a counter-offer: How about a table where the group could pre-sell albums? Popick took the deal.

When they arrived at the venue, though, there was no table, Popick says. The result was "complete chaos," he said. "They clearly had made no provisions for that."

Popick, believing that he was owed some alternate compensation, tried to contact the campaign afterward, without luck. In addition to costs spent on promotional materials for the nonexistent table, Popick says, he also lost several promotional opportunities due to confusion over his relationship with the campaign.

When Trump made the sudden decision to skip the January Fox News debate and instead hold an event for veterans, a representative of the campaign called Popick to see if the Freedom Kids might perform. The call came the day before the event, Popick says, which was being held in Des Moines at 6:30 p.m. With the promise that the exposure from the event would be "huge," Popick readily agreed, and the kids and their parents packed up for a direct flight to Chicago and a long drive to Iowa.

It wasn't to be. When the plane landed, Popick had a message from the campaign staffer indicating that there was a change of plan. The campaign invited the performers to attend the rally, which they did, in their outfits. The campaign asked Popick not to talk to the media, he says, but then gave them seats within arm's length of the press. "They just were constantly coming over, wanting pictures," Popick said of the news media. "They wanted to take pictures, they wanted to ask questions — and I had to be a real jerk." The cost of the flights, rental car and hotel were all absorbed by Popick.

More broken promises followed, and the Trump campaign waffled in a manner rather similar to the tales of contractors who dealt with Trump on myriad projects. This is more of the same awful, dishonest behavior the Republican Party seems to embrace and celebrate. This is what a Trumplican America looks like. Yikes! Best of luck to Popick in his quest for fairness and justice!

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