Secretary of State Antony Blinken performs with a band at the Barman Dictat bar in Kyiv, Tuesday. Associated Press/Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Pool photo
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MYRNA BROWN, HOST: A bar in Kyiv had a special guest this week…the American Secretary of State.
BAND MEMBER: Antony Blinken! [Applause]
Blinken met with leaders in Ukraine about American military aid, but he also had a message for the music crowd.
BLINKEN: The United States is with you. So much of the world is with you. And the free world is with you too. So maybe we can try something?
Turns out the Secretary of State has a thing for electric guiTAR, so he led the band in playing Neil Young’s Rockin’ in the Free World.
SOUND: [Blinken and band playing]
Not everyone was nodding to the beat, though…Social media lit up with messages calling the jam session tone-deaf, given what’s happening on the frontlines.
MARY REICHARD, HOST: Maybe Blinken should’ve just “Let it Be”?
BROWN: It’s The World and Everything in It.
WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.
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