The USA Freedom Kids, who went viral after performing at a Donald Trump rally, are now suing the Trump campaign for refusing to compensate them.
The trio of girl singers and dancers made headlines in January, when they performed a routine honoring Donald Trump in star-spangled costumes at a Trump rally in Pensacola, Florida.
Jeff Popick, creator of the group and father to one of the children, told the Washington Post that while he initially requested $2,500 for their performance, the Trump campaign offered instead to give them permission to set up a table at the rally where the group could sell their albums. This never happened.
Describing the event as “complete chaos,” Popick said, “They clearly had made no provisions for that.”
Popick says the group’s most nationally visible moment wound up costing them, from the money spent on promotional materials for the table that was provided to losing other opportunities due to the group’s relationship with the Trump campaign.
After efforts to secure some other form of payment went nowhere, the Trump campaign called the trio offering them to perform at an even higher profile event: Trump’s highly publicized event for veterans that he threw to conflict with the Republican debate, which he had shockingly decided to skip. This offer came the night before the event, and the group rushed from Florida to Iowa to attend.
When they arrived, they were not permitted to perform, and they were also stiffed out of compensation for their plane, rental car, and hotel expenses.
“These are guys that insist they’re straight shooters,” Popick said. “‘You may not like what we’re going to say, but we mean what we say and we say what we mean’ — and they just would not say anything of any substance! I’ve invested a lot of time, effort, money and it’s just been complete silence.”
This story fits the pattern of how Donald Trump has treated his business partners over the years. Hundreds of people, many of them small businesses, have also accused Trump of refusing to pay what was owed to them.
“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.”
USA Freedom Kids’ album will be out in September. Their song praising Donald Trump will not be included.
Nathan Wellman is a Los Angeles-based journalist, author, and playwright. Follow him on Twitter: @LightningWOW
