A group of protesters took over the Trump administration’s official event during an international climate change conference on Monday, singing a rewritten rendition of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.”
The protesters stood and sang their version of the song — filled with anti-coal lyrics — for about five minutes in the middle of the United States’ formal presentation at a United Nations climate change conference in Bonn, Germany.
The protest came after Dave Banks, Trump’s special assistant for energy and the environment, pitched nuclear and innovative fossil fuels as ways to expand energy around the globe while cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Environmentalists have disputed that platform, and several Democrats, including governors and senators, have traveled to Bonn to insist states and the private sector are pursuing the goals of the Paris climate agreement.
As protesters left the room Monday, Banks quipped, “I’ve always been a sucker for the Lee Greenwood version.”