President Trump has taken over the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, with the stated intention of making that institution more accessible to the people. He followed through today, announcing the first annual Honors list of his term:
President Trump announced five recipients of the annual Kennedy Center Honors Wednesday — including actor Sylvester Stallone, the rock band Kiss and disco singer Gloria Gaynor.
British actor Michael Crawford, best known for originating the titular role in the Broadway smash “The Phantom of the Opera,” and country music star George Strait will also be honored at a ceremony later this year.
We saw Gloria Gaynor with Scott and his wife at the Dakota jazz club a couple of years ago. I don’t think I have ever listened to Kiss, but George Strait is my favorite performer, so I would have been happy no matter who the other honorees were.
At the link, Trump comments humorously on some of the nominees who are favorites of his. He reminisces about seeing Rambo as a (relatively) young man, and says that Kiss will perform “something very special” during the televised honors ceremony, which will be in December. Trump emphasized that he had a hand in the selections:
Trump, who leads the Kennedy Center as chairman, said he personally approved each of the honorees and claimed that “I turned down plenty. They were too woke. I had a couple of wokesters.”
If you look at past honorees, it does appear that Trump has nominated a more populist and conservative group. Residents of the District may hate it, but maybe Trump will make it up to them by reducing the crime rate.
