«Vladimir Putin, I love that Vladimir Putin»
Every year the Minnesota Post holds an event called MinnRoast. MinnRoast features local politicians who gather for a 90-minute variety show with skits and songs. This year’s event took place on April 27th with a line-up that included Gov. Mark Dayton, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Sen. Tina Smith, former Vice President Walter Mondale, and Rep. Keith Ellison, among many others.
Rep. Ellison performed a version of the Cuban song “Guantanamera” while wearing a Trump wig. Here’s the revised lyrics:
I’m a nice honest man,
I just want straight shootin’
If ya want to be called a stable genius,
I just call my best friend Vlad Putin,
Vlad Putin, My buddy Vladimir Putin,
Vladimir Putin, I love that Vladimir Putin,
But there was no collusion,
I just won the vote fair and square,
I didn’t buy the election,
I just bought off my latest affair,
Robert Mueller, I hate that Robert Mueller,
I’m firing Robert Mueller, I’m firing Robert Mueller,
What good is 130 K,
I should have paid Stormy more,
You can stop asking about covfefe,
That’s just Russian for porn,
Stormy Daniels, I miss you Stormy Daniels,
Stormy Daniels, Come back Stormy Daniels,
That’s followed by a verse about Tim Pawlenty and one about Charlottesville (“Nice folks on both sides”). After finishing his song, Ellison went into a version of This Land is Your Land.
This isn’t the first time Ellison has broken out his guitar to make a political point. In 2017, he sang a version of the song Money in his office to celebrate the $15 minimum wage. In 2013 he sang This Land is Your Land to celebrate marriage equality.
In 2014, for the 30th anniversary of Prince’s Purple Rain, Ellison put up a Vine of himself singing Purple Rain. Stories about it remain but the Vine itself is gone and doesn’t appear to have been copied anywhere else.
This isn’t what I’d call tremendous entertainment but the crowd seems to be enjoying it. I guess his penchant for singing is just one more thing he has in common with former mentor Louis Farrakhan. Here’s the clip of Ellison’s performance:
