While attending a fundraiser at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday evening, President Donald Trump was booed, reported the Washington Post.
The president arrived with wife and first lady Melania to support the art center and watch the critically acclaimed musical Les Misérables, adapted from the 1862 French epic novel by Victor Hugo, which criticizes society’s treatment of members of the lower class. The musical gives voice to the lowliest sufferers as they ultimately plot a revolt against the French monarchy in the 19th century.
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“I love the songs, I love the play,” Trump told Fox News last week.
Ironically, Trump’s critics revile him as the kind of monarch against whom the Les Mis characters mutiny. Last weekend, for instance, Trump sent in the Marines and National Guard to thwart Los Angeles protests in response to immigration raids.
Together, as the couple took their box seats, there were some boos in the crowd followed by chants of “U-S-A.” During intermission, they waved to the crowd and took photos that were met with both support and rage.
The frosty reception is hardly surprising, as the president fired the entire board of trustees appointed by Joe Biden, along with the George W. Bush-appointed chairman David Rubenstein, by replacing them with his own political appointees, who then in turn installed Trump as institution chair and fired longtime Kennedy Center president Deborah Rutter.
In this new position, Trump reportedly hopes to revamp the Kennedy Center’s show offerings and renovate the building. The move follows his larger plan to reshape American art and culture.
The Kennedy Center has fallen on hard times, however, with a fiscal drop that has reportedly only increased since Trump’s takeover in February. In early June, ticket sales alone were down by about $1.6 million or approximately 36 percent.
Trump’s fundraising for the event included a $2 million opportunity to sit in a performance box, attend a VIP reception, and snap a photo with Trump. The president reportedly said that the evening brought in $10 million in support of the institution.
This does not account, however, for a loss of talent, with a large portion of the show’s principal cast boycotting the evening.
In February, Musician Ben Folds and opera singer Renée Fleming stepped down as artistic advisers, along with board treasurer TV producer Shonda Rhimes. Performers, like actress Issa Rae and musician Rhiannon Giddens, dropped out in protest of Trump’s calls to get rid of “woke” influences on the center, including drag shows and “anti-American propaganda.”
The center has seen major program changes as well, among them, the cancellation of the musical Hamilton next year and the quiet cancellation and relocation of this year’s Pride month events.
The evening marked the first Broadway musical tour to hit the stage since Trump’s take over of the center.
The event was well-attended with Trump officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife actress Cheryl Hines, Conservative Political Action Conference President Matt Schlapp, Republican Senator Ted Cruz, former Senior Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, and Vice President JD Vance, who was also booed the last time he attended a concert at the Kennedy Center.