Trump Puts Himself And His Former Caddy In Charge Of The Kennedy Center
Next up, his horse for president of the US Senate.
In 2017, several of the artists selected for the Kennedy Center Honors publicly criticized Donald Trump and said they would refuse to attend the reception at the White House. Because he is a big baby, this led to a contentious relationship with the institution for the remainder of his term.
Determined to not be embarrassed like that again, Trump ousted almost all of the current board and the sitting president this week and replaced them with people loyal to him — including his former caddy. He also replaced board chairman David M. Rubenstein … with himself. Like, he filled the board up with people loyal to him and then had them “elect” him chairman.
Guess he doesn’t have any important presidenting to do with Elon Musk around, so he’s got to keep himself busy somehow.
In addition to pure vengeance, Trump is also taking over the Center in an unbelievably creepy and Hitleresque attempt to purge it of what he and his pals consider “degenerate” art — specifically drag shows. Why do they hate drag shows? Because they are fun and they make people want to not be bigots so that they can participate in the fun.
“We took over the Kennedy Center. We didn’t like what they were showing and various other things,” Trump said Monday. “I’m going to be chairman of it, and we’re going to make sure that it’s good and it’s not going to be ‘woke.’”
By “woke” he literally just means any art that is actually good and made by people who are not conservative white men. The Right tends to be extra resentful about art, because while they understand its power, they are not very good at it. Perhaps if they bothered to pick up an instrument and worked at it, they’d develop some actual self-esteem and wouldn’t need to be told they are better than various other groups of people all of the time.
Trump also got rid of Kennedy Center president Deborah Rutter — who had held the position since 2014, and prior to that served as the president of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for 11 years — and replaced her with Richard Grenell, a Trump loyalist with literally zero experience in nonprofit arts administration, but who did have the distinction of making all of Germany hate him while insulting them as our ambassador. Trump explained that Grenell “shares my Vision for a GOLDEN AGE of American Arts and Culture,” which we can assume involves just playing Lee Greenwood and the Village People on repeat, over and over and over again.
Several of the artists associated with the board are also getting out of there, including Shonda Rhimes, Ben Folds, and Reneé Fleming, the last being I hope an extra salty burn, given his pretend love of opera.
“It has been a privilege to serve as an Artistic Advisor at Large to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,” the renowned soprano (who by the way is also from Rochester, New York) wrote in a post on Instagram. “David Rubenstein's leadership as Chairman is just one of the many ways he has contributed to America's cultural and historic heritage. He is the greatest patriot I know.
“As President of the Kennedy Center, Deborah Rutter has been a tireless, creative leader, successfully expanding our National Center for the Arts in visionary ways.
“They have both been an inspiration to me; and out of respect, I think it right to depart as well.
“I've treasured the bipartisan support for this institution as a beacon of America at our best.
“I hope the Kennedy Center continues to flourish and serve the passionate and diverse audience in our nation's capital and across the country.”
It probably will not, but she is a classy lady to hope so.
“Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, the social network literally owned by the President of the United States (which for some reason doesn’t present any kind of ethical dilemma for the “Twitter Files” crew). “The Kennedy Center is an American Jewel, and must reflect the brightest STARS on its stage from all across our Nation. For the Kennedy Center, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!”
Oh yeah, surely they’ll get some real big “stars.” Maybe the kid from the end of Cabaret is available?
PREVIOUSLY ON WONKETTE!
We'll all remember where we were when we heard the Kennedy Center was assassinated.
Issa Rae has called off her show as a result of this.
“Actor and producer Issa Rae announced the cancellation of her sold-out Kennedy Center show in an Instagram post this afternoon.
Thanking fans for their support, Rae said she could not proceed with the event ‘due to what I believe is an infringement on the values of an institution that has faithfully celebrated artists of all backgrounds through all mediums.’”