Rufus Wainwright spoke out against Donald Trump playing his cover of Leonard Cohen's “Hallelujah,” the “peak of blasphemy,” at a campaign rally last night. Rolling Stone.

“The song 'Hallelujah' by Leonard Cohen has become an anthem dedicated to peace, love and acceptance of the truth,” Wainwright said. “It has been a great honor for me over the years to be associated with this ode to tolerance. Witnessing Trump and his supporters communicating with this music last night was the height of blasphemy.”

“Hallelujah” was one of several songs played during Trump's strange campaign event, which was supposed to be a question-and-answer session with South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. But after several participants required medical attention, Trump decided to pause the conversation and simply listen to music instead. The playlist also included longtime Trump favorite “YMCA,” tracks by Elvis and Sinead O'Connor, and Oliver Anthony's “Rich Men North of Richmond” (per The New York Times).

Wainwright continued: “Of course I cannot condone this in any way and was ashamed, but the good in me hopes that as Donald Trump reflects and listens to the lyrics of Cohen's masterpiece, he may feel a twinge of remorse for what he has caused.” “. I’m not holding my breath.”

A representative for Cohen's publisher, Sony Music Publishing, declined to comment. (An earlier version of this story included a report that Sony had issued a cease-and-desist letter to the Trump campaign, but Rolling Stone I have since found out that this was wrong.)

It's also not the first time that “Hallelujah” has been at the center of one of these battles. In 2020, the song was played during the fireworks portion of the Republican National Convention, prompting the Cohen settlement to issue a statement saying they were “surprised and dismayed that the RNC” continued to use the song despite the Cohen -Settlement “explicitly rejected the RNC’s application for use.”

(The estate's attorney also quipped, “If the RNC had requested a different song, 'You Want it Darker,' for which Leonard posthumously won a Grammy in 2017, we might have considered approving that song.”)

This story was updated at 2:39 p.m. ET to correct an error regarding Leonard Cohen's publishing.