Why Is John Fogerty Serenading Trump Crony Steve Wynn?

By David Corn  February 15, 2022

John Fogerty performs at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 2019. Amy Harris/AP

As a fan of John Fogerty, I am puzzled by his decision to perform a private show earlier this month at the Palm Beach mansion of casino magnate Steve Wynn, a major financial backer of the Trump cult.

Fogerty fronted Creedence Clearwater Revival, the seminal group—“Proud Mary,” “Bad Moon Rising,” “Down on the Corner”—that helped define American rock ’n’ roll. Every band I’ve been in has played his songs, especially “Who’ll Stop the Rain.” (Who can resist that riff?) More to the point, Fogerty has long championed progressive causes. He performed at the historic first Farm Aid concert, in 1985, that assisted family farmers and featured Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Petty, Neil Young, and many others. In 2004, he joined Bruce Springsteen, REM, the Dixie Chicks, and the Dave Matthews Band on the Vote for Change tour that raised money for a political effort that benefitted John Kerry in the election against George W. Bush. (I saw the Philadelphia show. It was a blast.) In a 2015 Rolling Stone interview, Fogerty described himself as a “lifelong liberal” and a Democrat and noted his support for Hillary Clinton. “Our system in America isn’t perfect,” he commented, “but liberals tend to have the little guy in mind. When they talk, at least, they’re in favor of trying to make everybody’s lot in life better. I never heard a lot of talk like that come out of Republicans.”

His song “Fortunate Son” has been a timeless dual anthem—antiwar and anti-plutocrat—that remains relevant today: “It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no millionaire's son, no, no.” He has criticized Donald Trump for (idiotically) playing that song at rallies, and, during the 2020 campaign, he joined other musicians in sending Trump a cease and desist letter. In a statement, Fogerty wrote, “[Trump] is using my words and my voice to portray a message that I do not endorse. Therefore, I am issuing a ‘cease and desist’ order. I wrote this song because, as a veteran, I was disgusted that some people were allowed to be excluded from serving our country because they had access to political and financial privilege. I also wrote about wealthy people not paying their fair share of taxes. Mr. Trump is a prime example of both of these issues. The fact that Mr. Trump also fans the flames of hatred, racism, and fear while rewriting recent history, is even more reason to be troubled by his use of my song.” So why is Fogerty serenading Wynn?

Two weeks ago, according to Bloomberg, Fogerty was scheduled to perform at Wynn’s home as part of a conference organized by Mike Milken, the onetime felonious junk bond king turned philanthropist. The first Milken Institute South Florida Dialogues—modeled on a fancy gabfest he hosts in the Hamptons—was an invitation-only get-together of gazillionaires and policy wonks and presented about two dozen salons with celebs, .0001-percenters, and experts. The invitation listed a panel on sports with Alex Rodriguez and one on venture capital with Serena Williams at the home of Joshua Kushner (Jared’s brother). Dangerous billionaire Peter Thiel was scheduled to host a discussion on the mental health crisis and psychedelics. Also on the list of participants: Sen. Joe Manchin and several Trumpers, such as former Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin and Elaine Chao, the former labor secretary who barely made it out of Trump’s administration ahead of being caught in a scandal. (Billionaire Milken, the poster boy for 1980s insider trading, received a pardon from Trump in early 2020.) Special events at this pluto-thon included a golf tournament, and tennis at the Palm Beach oceanfront estate of billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones.

For years, Wynn has been a prominent funder of Republicans and a supporter and frenemy of Donald Trump, who handpicked Wynn in 2017 to be finance chair of the Republican National Committee. Wynn raised a bundle of campaign cash for Trump and other Republicans in 2016 and made a $729,000 donation to Trump’s inauguration. In 2018, he resigned his RNC position after being accused of sexual misconduct. The Wall Street Journal reported, “Dozens of people The Wall Street Journal interviewed who have worked at Mr. Wynn’s casinos told of behavior that cumulatively would amount to a decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct by Mr. Wynn. Some described him pressuring employees to perform sex acts.” Wynn has claimed the allegations against him are false.

Wynn’s departure from the RNC—and his scandal—didn’t stop him from continuing as a major benefactor of the GOP. In 2020, he donated $6 million to various GOP entities. This included $5.5 million for super-PACs linked to Sen. Mitch McConnell and $468,500 to Trump’s reelection effort. It was possible that he donated even more through so-called “dark money” groups that don’t have to disclose their contributors. Following the disclosure of the allegations against him, the GOP seemed to have no qualms about depositing his checks. A year ago, he gave $770,000 to a fundraising committee controlled by House minority leader Kevin McCarthy for the GOP effort to regain control of the House. In October, Axios reported, “Steve Wynn is re-engaging in midterm races this year, and Republicans who distanced themselves from the casino mogul after sexual misconduct allegations are now happy to take his money.”

With his donation to McCarthy’s committee, Wynn is one of the top allies of House Republicans who have championed Trump’s Big Lie and who have dismissed and downplayed the insurrectionist January 6 attack on the US Capitol. As a key underwriter of the Trump cult that embraces an authoritarian, narcissistic, and racist leader who tried to mount a coup to overturn an election, Wynn is financing the GOP war on democracy. Should Trump run for president again, Wynn would likely be a significant member of Trump’s crew. This Trump megadonor is a strange bedfellow for Fogerty.

But Fogerty has a business association with Wynn. He’s been holding residencies at Wynn’s Las Vegas casino for several years. Last May, when he announced his latest gig there, he said, “I can’t wait to be back at Wynn. This will be my fourth year playin’ at Encore Theater. It’s good to be back with my Las Vegas family.” Certainly, business is business. But given that a critical part of an anti-Trump/save democracy strategy is to target Trump’s enablers and supporters, strumming and crooning in the $49 million, 13,375-square-foot Wynn abode may be bad for democracy.

I wondered what Fogerty thought about all this: Wynn, the sexual assault allegations, and Wynn’s close involvement with Trump. I contacted his PR spokesperson. She replied, “I have no comment.” I also wondered if Fogerty dared to perform “Fortunate Son” for Wynn and the other billionaires Milken assembled. No word on that either. 

Got anything to say about this item—or anything else? Email me at thisland@motherjones.com.

Rebranding This Land…With Your Help

I am repeating this item from the previous issue: When this newsletter was launched, I explained that I picked This Land as its title because I had long thought that would be a great name for a band. (Please don’t steal that idea.) And, as I noted, “It references a grand cultural tradition—a song that ought to be our national anthem—and an expansive connection between...well, all of us.” As is customary, we conducted a trademark search, but there was an oversight. After we began publishing, an outfit called This Land Press that sells Oklahoma-themed clothing and once produced a quarterly magazine contacted us and complained the title violated their trademark.

This Land is written for you and me, and now it needs a new name. I have one or two in mind. But let’s open it up to everyone. Have any ideas? Shoot them my way. I cannot offer a grand prize to the winner. There are no This Land T-shirts—though given the present situation they would truly be a collector’s item. I can promise a year’s free subscription. Maybe two subs, if the name is particularly great. I repeat: I already have one or two titles that I fancy. (We will be doing a trademark search.) If someone proposes the same name, you’ll just have to take my word that I ain’t a newsletter-title thief. Send me suggestions at thisland@motherjones.com. 

Can Trump Be Barred From Running for President Because He Flushed Documents Down a White House Toilet?

The Trump tales keep getting more absurd. I explored this crucial question of national importance in a recent article. If you missed it, click here.

The Watch, Read, and Listen List

The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window. The reason I’m writing about this Netflix series, which stars Kristen Bell, is so I can tell you to watch The Good Place, which also starred Kristen Bell. That NBC comedy, which ran from 2016 until 2020, was one of the most intelligent and ingenious television shows of all time. That sounds like an exaggeration, but tell me if you know of a series that in every episode made pertinent and perceptive references to metaphysics, the time-space continuum, philosophy, and the meaning of life. In this show, Bell plays a trashy Eleanor Shellstrop who, after death, arrives at “the Good Place,” a Heavenlike utopia that is a reward for a life well lived. The problem is she doesn’t deserve to be there. Was there a mistake in the cosmos bureaucracy? Worse—or better—she is matched with her supposedly perfect soulmate, a professor of ethics and moral philosophy played well by William Jackson Harper. Hijinks ensue, as they try to sort out what’s up with the Good Place and explore the moral dilemmas and imponderables of existence that have haunted philosophers through the ages. (Bonus points for casting Ted Danson, Maya Rudolph, and Jameela Jamil.) The show twists like a mobius strip.

Back to that woman in the house. The series is set up as a parody of psychological thrillers that feature women who drink too much wine, see something they shouldn’t have seen, and solve a murder. Think The Girl on the Train. In this send-up, Bell’s Anna spots a murder in the house across the street in her upscale suburban neighborhood. But, of course, no one believes her. She proceeds to solve the case. And, naturally, there’s a backstory: Her 9-year-old daughter was killed by a serial killer three years ago, and that ended her marriage to an FBI forensic psychologist and profiler. Now she spends her days pounding down the red wine and staring out her living room window. The show opens with a satirical monologue that promises smart jabbing at the genre. But then the series becomes its own target. There are several amusing pokes but it mostly follows the standard narrative of this fare with not enough lampooning. A few clever and mocking plot turns pop up, but I was not sure if I was watching a spoof or the subject of a spoof. That mystery was never solved.

One Hand on the Starry Plough, Ian Prowse. I do whatever Elvis Costello tells me to do. A few days ago, he tweeted, “It will be great to be on tour again with our pal Ian [Prowse] and his wonderful players. Check out his great new album.” I was unfamiliar with Prowse’s work, but I immediately followed this command. And…thanks, Elvis. Prowse’s new album is a delight. He is a Liverpudlian musician who’s been in the biz for a few decades. He has led bands called Pele and Amsterdam and scored a few low-charting songs in the United Kingdom. He never broke through. Yet he and Costello became pals, and Prowse and his band have occasionally backed up Costello. Prowse’s most well-known song is the poignant 2005 “Does This Train Stop on Merseyside?” which boasts the feel of a classic sweeping Brit-rock number.

Prowse’s new album, One Hand on the Starry Plough, covers a mix of styles: power ballads, indie rock, artsy crooning. Several tunes have a Celtic lilt. That makes sense. According to Wikipedia, Prowse “graduated with a BA (Hons) History Degree in 2009 and completed a master's degree in Irish Studies in 2010 at the University of Liverpool. His masters thesis was entitled 'Locating the Role of Christy Moore in Irish Folk and Traditional Music.’” The lead track, “Battle,” offers what Prowse calls “an uplifting message of hope and defiance.” On the anthemic chorus, he belts out, “A different battle every day.” “Swine” is an upbeat Springsteen-like number (with a wailing sax) featuring Costello-ish acerbic lyrics. (“He is the son of a swine / who would cross a picket line.”) “He Sings I Cry” includes snippets of dialogue from Local Hero, a wonderfully whimsical Scottish 1983 comedy (which has a brilliant score by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits). As one British reviewer put it, Prowse’s latest “is an album that again confirms Prowse’s talent and reiterates the fact that there must surely be an alternative universe where he is as big a star as the likes of Liam Gallagher have become in this one.” There is indeed a universe of talented and hard-working journeyman musicians who never receive the recognition or audience they deserve. Hats off to Costello for shining a light on this one.

Read Recent Issues of This Land

February 12, 2022: Would you want to look at photos of a massacre?; rebranding This Land; Dumbass Comment of the Week; the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more.

February 8, 2022: The Trump coup: Maybe we can’t handle the truth; Steve Martin and Martin Short shine in Only Murders in the Building; Invasion’s odd but conventional take on the sci-fi/alien-attack genre; and more.

February 5, 2022: Can we call Trump’s race war a “race war”?; Dumbass Comment of the Week (Michele Bachmann and Rick Scott); the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more.

February 1, 2022: Please tell me: Why is Michael Flynn crazy?; an impressive film about Nicolas Cage and his pig; Wajahat Ali’s impressive memoir about growing up Muslim and nonwhite in America; and more.

January 29, 2022: The inside story of the banning of Maus—it’s dumber than you think; Dumbass Comment of the Week; the Mailbag; and MoxieCam™; and more.

January 25, 2022: The snowflake-ization of the right; would you buy cryptocurrency from this man (Steve Bannon)?; Belfast, a feel-good movie about a civil war; Elvis Costello’s delightful and cynical new album; and more.

January 22, 2022: Readers speak out: How to save the republic from Republicans; Dumbass Comment of the Week; the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more.

January 19, 2022: Why the Democrats must yield to Manchin to keep the Trump cult from gaining power; gushing about The French Dispatch; a true-crime podcast with political and international significance; and more.

January 15, 2022: We’re all tired of Trump’s crazy, but it’s dangerous to ignore; Dumbass Comment of the Week (US Senate edition); the Mailbag; (a harrowing) MoxieCam™; and more

Got suggestions, comments, complaints, tips related to any of the above, or anything else? Email me at thisland@motherjones.com.