Eagles legend Don Henley takes shot at Trump on national TV

WASHINGTON – Eagles singer and songwriter Don Henley used his performance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" Monday night to call out Donald Trump by name.

While performing "Too Much Pride" from his new solo album, Henley offered some musical advice to the Republican presidential frontrunner, singing:

"You don't have to be right, Donald, all the time. You can't go on with all these axes to grind. So why don't you lighten up and let it ride? Too much pride."

And, "Now listen Mr. Trump, empires rise, and empires fall, you stick around here long enough you'll see it all. Now it looks like it's gone nationwide, too much pride."

In response, Trump supporter Ann Coulter quipped to WND, "Is Henley being funded by billionaire GOP donors, too?"

Ann Coulter

That was a reference to widespread reports that big-money GOP donors are making an all-out effort to try to defeat Trump, who says they fear him because he can't be bought with contributions, as he is financing his own campaign.

Politico reported in July: "GOP donors call for sidelining Donald Trump."

Politico also reported in July that GOP mega-donor Koch brothers "are freezing out Donald Trump from their influential political operation – denying him access to their state-of-the-art data and refusing to let him speak to their gatherings of grass-roots activists or major donors."

Fox News reported last week that the business group Club For Growth, described as conservative but seen by many as more aligned with the Republican establishment, will "spend at least $1 million on TV ads criticizing Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump in the early primary voting state of Iowa." Club for Growth President David McIntosh called Trump "the worst kind of politician," and said the group's ad will claim he is playing voters "for chumps."

And the far left-leaning magazine Rolling Stone opined last week, "The donors, elected officials and party officials who make up the Republican elite are terrified of Donald Trump. They have pretty good reason to be; he's an unpredictable madman who could destroy their party if he wins the nomination, and much more if he wins the presidency."

Coulter has asserted the donors are indeed terrified of Trump, but for one reason in particular: He has vowed to stop the flood of cheap, immigrant labor streaming into the country at record levels.

Just Tuesday, the Center for Immigration Studies reported, based on U.S. Census figures, the number of immigrants in the United States has hit a record 42.4 million persons, more than doubling the immigrant share of the population since 1980.

Trump surged to the top of the polls only after making immigration his signature issue, vowing to build a wall on the southern border and to deport immigrants already in the country illegally.

Don Henley

While announcing he was quitting the race for the GOP presidential nomination Monday night, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker took a jab at Trump.

Walker called on other low-polling GOP candidates to drop out of the race so "that the voters can focus on a limited number of candidates who can offer a positive, conservative alternative to the current frontrunner."

In response to that, Coulter tweeted, "THEY'RE ALL AUTOMATONS CONTROLLED BY DONORS! Walker quits, calls on others to quit, to beat 'current front-runner.'"

And, "Walker's exit speech attacks Trump because 'Making America Great Again' is such a negative message."

As for Henley, it's not his first stab at mixing music with politics.

In 1989, he made a thinly veiled reference to President Ronald Reagan as "this tired old man that we elected king" in the song "The End of the Innocence," co-written with Bruce Hornsby.

It appears Henley changed the words to "Too Much Pride" on Monday night to make the direct references to Trump. The lyrics are not yet available online, but in its review of the song published Monday, Rolling Stone made no mention of any references to Trump.

Henley sings the lead vocals on Eagles hits such as "Hotel California," "Desperado," "Best of My Love," "Life in the Fast Lane" and "The Long Run."

His solo hits include "Dirty Laundry," "The Boys of Summer," "All She Wants to Do Is Dance," "The Heart of the Matter," "The Last Worthless Evening," and "Sunset Grill."

Editor's note: An earlier version of this article referred to Henley as "former Eagle."

WND then received an email from Scoop Marketing that read:

Hi – we look after the PR for Don Henley and wanted to let you know that Don recently wrapped up a nearly 2-year long tour with the Eagles, the band he co-founded and is very much still a member. Please correct your Don Henley/Colbert story accordingly. Thanks much.

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