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Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(128,465 posts)
Wed Aug 6, 2025, 05:39 PM Aug 6

No Trump name should appear above the Kennedy Center

By Christine Ledbetter / Chicago Tribune

When the Kennedy Center opened in 1971, the world premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass,” a theater piece for singers, dancers and musicians, was performed in its Opera House. Dignitaries included Rose Kennedy, Eunice Shriver, Sen. Edward Kennedy and his wife, Joan, along with artists such as Aaron Copland, Helen Hayes and Isaac Stern.

It was a glittering event that would signal the beginning of the monumental importance of the nation’s cultural center for the next 50-plus years.

Founding Chairman Roger L. Stevens said the Kennedy Center “more than any predecessor lent dignity to the role of the arts and its place in society.”

-snip-

The Kennedy Center should not be treated like a hotel with the Trump name plastered all over it. Statements about the first couple’s contributions to the arts are simply not true. Indeed, the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts to federal arts agencies such as the National Endowment for the Humanities and National Endowment for the Arts have caused states to scramble for funds, including 192 organizations in Illinois.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-no-trump-name-should-appear-above-the-kennedy-center/

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LetMyPeopleVote

(169,542 posts)
4. Maddow Blog-Trump exerts control over Kennedy Center Honors, vetoes prospective 'wokester' honorees
Wed Aug 13, 2025, 04:29 PM
Aug 13

The president found time to lead the Kennedy Center, scrutinize honorees, agree to host its awards ceremony and approve an honor for one of his pals.



https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-kennedy-center-honors-host-ceremony-stallone-rcna224819

But let’s not forget about cultural institutions, too. NBC News reported:

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he would host this year’s Kennedy Center Honors ceremony, his latest move to revamp the Washington, D.C., cultural institution in his image. ‘It’s going to be a big evening. I’ve been asked to host,’ he said Wednesday as he was announcing this year’s Kennedy Center honorees.


.....The president also suggested that he’s inclined to use his role as chair to give himself a Kennedy Center Honor.

Trump: “I said, to hell with it. I'll become chairman. I'll give myself an honor…Next year, we'll honor Trump.”

The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) 2025-08-13T16:36:07.864Z


But while it was unclear whether this was intended to be funny, just as notable was the way in which Trump talked about his role at the cultural institution. To hear the Republican tell it, he has maintained a hands-on role, personally rejecting prospective Kennedy Center honorees whom he considered “wokesters.”

Trump says that all of the choices for Kennedy honorees "came through me" and adds that he turned down "some wokesters"

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-08-13T16:16:51.144Z


.....So to review, the sitting American president, who presumably has a day job that keeps him rather busy, has found time to lead the Kennedy Center, personally scrutinize prospective honorees, agree to host the center’s upcoming awards ceremony and approve an honor for one of his pals.

“We took over the Kennedy Center,” Trump boasted in February. Evidently, that was true.
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