The fallout from President Donald Trump’s unprecedented MAGA overhaul of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts continued Thursday as staff inside the center broke their silence to describe a week filled with “chaos, fear and confusion.”
That’s according to a new report in The Washington Post, which detailed the early after-effects of Trump immediately terminating members from the Board of Trustees, then installing himself as chairman and his MAGA allies as members because they “do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.”
When making his announcement last week, Trump said: “Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP. 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!"
The president’s comments “collapsed all the nuance of what we do,” one staffer told the Post. “My identity is caught up in this place,” said the staffer, who described the work at the Washington D.C. arts center as more than a job or a passion. And now, the staffer said, “I don’t feel safe.”
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Another staffer found it “concerning he would want to exert this much power over a nonprofit,” pointing out to the Post that Trump expressed little interest in the storied center during his first term.
“... The people whose lives he’s throwing into chaos aren’t government employees,” the staffer is quoted as saying. “They’re arts administrators.”
The internal concerns come as the first major artist — comedian and actress Issa Rae — canceled her scheduled performance at the center, the Post reported. Rae said she was canceling her appearance “due to what I believe to be an infringement on the values of an institution that has faithfully celebrated artists of all backgrounds through all mediums.”
Aside from Trump naming himself chair, other members of the new MAGAfied board include Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles, Dan Scavino, his deputy chief of staff, and Vice President J.D. Vance’s wife Usha Vance.
