Democrats are outraged after finding out that Republicans are trying to rename a theater at the prestigious John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., after first lady Melania Trump.
House Republicans on the Appropriations Committee passed a motion to change the name of the second-largest theater at the center to the “First Lady Melania Trump Opera House.”
‘It seems outrageous to me. There’s no public consensus around this.’
Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine accused Republicans of trying sneak in the “divisive” proposal.
“The Republicans have now given the president six times the normal amount of money to run the Kennedy Center, carte blanche over who will be on the board, and how different parts of the Kennedy Center — perhaps the whole Kennedy Center itself — will be named, and this amendment confirms that,” Pingree said at a hearing.
She further complained in a phone call statement to the New York Times.
“It seems outrageous to me. There’s no public consensus around this. It also leads me to wonder, does the president plan to rename the whole Kennedy Center after himself?” Pingree said.
Trump overhauled the center’s board in February and named himself the chair, angering many on the left.
Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, also criticized the motion because he identified the first lady with “oppression,” rather than expression.
“A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces — but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers,” Schlossberg wrote, quoting his grandfather, on Instagram.
“JFK believed the arts made our country great and could be our most effective weapon in the fight for civil rights and against authoritarian governments around the world,” he added. “The Trump administration stands for freedom of oppression, not expression.”
ABC News noted that Democrats may be able to strip the bill of the naming provision because it would need 60 votes in the Senate.
One group protested against Trump seizing control of the institution by performing an interpretative dance against the “assault” on their constitutional rights, as they claimed.
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