President Trump said he would hold a rally in Washington with performances from the country musician Lee Greenwood and the tenor Christopher Macchio after most of the announced artists dropped out of concerts planned by Freedom 250 in honor of the country’s 250th birthday.
Last week, Young MC, Martina McBride, Morris Day and Bret Michaels were among the musicians who canceled their performances after they were publicly promoted by the White House. They were scheduled to perform on the National Mall between June 25 and July 10 as part of the Great American State Fair.
“The artists were never told about any political involvement with the event,” Young MC wrote on social media after dropping out.
Mr. Trump said in a post on social media on Thursday that the rally would be held on June 24 and would also include military band performances. He called Mr. Greenwood’s song “God Bless the U.S.A.” “one of the greatest hits of all time” and said that Mr. Macchio would sing “Nessun dorma,” “Hallelujah,” “Ave Maria” and “God Bless America.”
Freedom 250 did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the president’s post.
A spokeswoman, Rachel Reisner, said last week that it was “focused on our signature celebrations and events that honor our history and engage all Americans — welcoming all who share our goal of commemorating this milestone in a way that uplifts and unites America.”
Not every artist had dropped out of the Freedom 250 concerts. Flo Rida had not publicly spoken after the announcement, and Vanilla Ice said he would perform for anyone.
“I’ll go play for Putin, and I’ll play in Iran if you want,” he said. “It don’t matter.”
President Trump said in his post that all the artists were told “to stay home.” “We don’t want singers with no talent, but big fees to put you to sleep,” he wrote.
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