Tom Petty's family says it sent cease-and-desist letter to Trump after Tulsa rally featured 'I Won't Back Down'

Tom Petty's family says they sent a cease-and-desist notice to President Donald Trump's reelection campaign after the late musician's song "I Won't Back Down" was used during the president's Tulsa rally.

In a statement on Twitter, Petty's family says the song was used without permission.

"Trump was in no way authorized to use this song to further a campaign that leaves too many Americans and common sense behind," reads a statement on Petty's Twitter account, signed by daughters Adria and Annakim along with his widow Dana Petty and ex-wife Jane Benyo.

"Both the late Tom Petty and his family firmly stand against racism and discrimination of any kind. Tom Petty would never want a song of his used for a campaign of hate. He liked to bring people together."

During the president's campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday night, Trump gave a 1 hour and 41 minute speech to his supporters, during which he boasted of his administration's response to the coronavirus, said he wanted to slow down testing for the disease and blamed China for spreading the virus.

"Tom wrote this song for the underdog, for the common man and for EVERYONE," the Petty family statement added. "We want to make it clear that we believe everyone is free to vote as they like, think as they like, but the Petty family doesn't stand for this. We believe in America and we believe in democracy. But Donald Trump is not representing the noble ideals of either. We would hate for fans that are marginalized by this administration to think we were complicity in this usage."

In the past, Petty also called for George W. Bush and John McCain to stop playing "I Won't Back Down" on the campaign trail.

Trump has previously faced backlash from his choice of songs.

He came under fire last fall from the late singer Prince's estate when one of the singer's most iconic tunes, "Purple Rain," was played during the president's campaign rally in Minneapolis.

According to Prince's official Twitter account, the president went back on a promise not to use the musician's work.

"President Trump played Prince’s 'Purple Rain' tonight at a campaign event in Minneapolis despite confirming a year ago that the campaign would not use Prince’s music," the tweet said. "The Prince Estate will never give permission to President Trump to use Prince’s songs."

More: 35 musicians who famously told politicians: Don't use my song

The tweet included an image of a letter from Oct. 15, 2018, from lawyer Megan Newton regarding the estate's first request that Trump "refrain from using Prince's 'Purple Rain,' or any other Prince music, in connection with Campaign rallies, or other Campaign events."

Pharrell Williams sent a cease-and-desist letter to Trump after the president played Williams' 2014 smash hit "Happy" at a political event in the Midwest, just hours after nearly a dozen people were gunned down in a Pittsburgh synagogue in October 2018.

Aerosmith, R.E.M. and Queen are among the other artists who have objected to the president's use of their music.

Contributing: Charles Trepany, Cydney Henderson and John Fritze, USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump campaign used Tom Petty's song without permission, family says