Members of the disco group Village People have been branded “traitors” by social media users for agreeing to perform at celebrations related to President-elect ‘s inauguration.

Over the years, Trump has been known to play the group’s enduring 1978 hit “Y.M.C.A.” at his political rallies. Victor Willis, the Village People’s lead singer and sole remaining original member, previously voiced objection to Trump using the group’s music, and a to Trump’s campaign in May 2023.

On Monday, the Village People announced on that they had “accepted an invitation from President Elect Trump’s campaign to participate in inaugural activities, including at least one event with President Elect Trump.”

Per the Associated Press, these events will include inaugural balls on January 20, the day Trump is set to be sworn into office, and a rally the incoming president is holding in Washington, D.C., the day before his inauguration.

“We know this wont make some of you happy to hear however we believe that music is to be performed without regard to politics,” the band said in its social media post. “Our song Y.M.C.A. is a global anthem that hopefully helps bring the country together after a tumultuous and divided campaign where our preferred candidate lost.”

“Therefore, we believe it’s now time to bring the country together with music which is why VILLAGE PEOPLE will be performing at various events as part of the 2025 Inauguration of Donald J. Trump,” the announcement continued.

As news of the Village People’s announcement circulated online, a number of social media users expressed their distaste for the group’s change of tune.

Regalrumination.com has contacted representatives of the Village People for comment via email.

Social Media Reactions

On Monday, Star Trek actor George Takei took to the microblogging platform Bluesky to write: “Just heard The Village People are set to . At this point, perhaps they should rename themselves ‘The Villages People.'”

Responding to the post, Mrs. Doubtfire screenwriter Randi Mayem Singer wrote: “Actually it’s just the one surviving village person. The one who says he’s not gay, which is fine, but who also claims ‘YMCA’ was never a gay anthem. So basically, the Village Idiot.”

Another user commented, “Add the Village People to your list of despicable traitors as they mistakenly believe performing at the felon’s inauguration events will unite us.”

On X, formerly , fans had a similar reaction, with one writing: “Gross…now the Village People are officially on my list of traitors. My childhood is REALLY taking a hit this week.”

Other users celebrated the news, with a supporter saying: “Hell yeah, that’s awesome! Trump should totally dance with The Village People! That would be epic.”

One X user shared a compilation video of Trump dancing at various events, with “Y.M.C.A.” serving as the soundtrack, while another user wrote: “Wait, I thought Trump hated gay people!? He hates them so much, he’s having The Village People—the quintessential gay band—perform at his inauguration!!”

Change of Heart

In December, Willis—who voiced support for Vice President in the recent election cycle—sat down for an interview with ‘s Michael Smerconish and explained why, despite initially asking Trump in 2020 to stop using his group’s hit at rallies, he .

“The money was not really the reason that I allowed him to do it,” he said. “The reason that I allowed him to keep using ‘Y.M.C.A.’ is because he seemed to genuinely like the song, and there were so many other artists that were .”

“So I called BMI and asked them to not terminate his political use license and to let him continue using the song,” Willis continued, adding, “because it was bringing so much joy to the American public.”

In a December Facebook post, Willis criticized the continued portrayal of “Y.M.C.A.” as a “gay anthem,” threatening legal action against media outlets that refer to it as such. He clarified that while he didn’t mind the LGBTQ+ community embracing the song, it was never intended to convey any specific message to the gay community. That notion, he argued, was based on misconceptions about the song’s lyrics and the fact that some members of the Village People and one of its writers were gay.

Willis said the song was meant for everyone and should not be narrowly categorized. While a number of the group’s original members identified as gay, Willis was among those who didn’t.

In 2022, Trump described “Y.M.C.A.” as the “” during an appearance on the Full Send podcast.

When asked what his “go to banger” was, Trump replied: “I have a lot of them. You know a song that does get people moving? I love Broadway stuff, Phantom of the Opera and Les Mis, etc. You know what gets them rocking? ‘Y.M.C.A.'”

“‘Y.M.C.A.’—the gay national anthem. Did you ever hear that? They call it the gay national anthem,” he said. “But ‘Y.M.C.A.’ gets people up, and it gets them moving,” Trump continued.

In June 2020, Willis demanded that Trump stop using the Village People’s music after the then-president threatened military action to quell the protests that followed the police killing of . Three months later, a spokesperson for the Village People told that Willis would not sue Trump “simply out of spite,” as he was not a “Trump hater.” The spokesperson clarified that Willis had not granted permission for the song’s use at rallies because it was not legally required.

In May 2023, as Trump continued to play “Y.M.C.A.” at his rallies during his latest presidential campaign, Karen Willis, the Village People’s manager and Victor Willis’ wife, sent a cease-and-desist letter to Trump’s campaign. The letter condemned a performance of the group’s song “Macho Man” by impersonators dressed as the Village People at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, saying it sparked confusion and falsely implied the band’s endorsement of the GOP figurehead.

Victor Willis said in an appearance on Fox & Friends in December that he would consider performing for Trump “because he has done so much for ‘Y.M.C.A.’ and brought so much joy to so many people with the song.”