Trump to skip Kennedy Center awards program
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) — Acknowledging that he has become a "political distraction," President Donald Trump has decided to skip the festivities surrounding the annual Kennedy Center Honors arts awards later this year, the White House announced Saturday amid the continuing fallout over Trump's stance on last weekend's white supremacist demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump reached their decision Friday, a White House official said, the same day that the entire membership of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities resigned in protest over Trump's remarks about Charlottesville.
Trump has blamed "both sides" for the Aug. 12 violence that left an anti-racism activist dead.
The Kennedy Center said it respected Trump's decision and the show will go on.
Presidents traditionally host a light-hearted and oftentimes humorous gathering for the honorees at the White House before everyone shifts to the performing arts center for the ceremony, which is later broadcast nationally.
Trump long has had a contentious relationship with the arts world and some of those whom the Kennedy Center is recognizing for lifetime achievement in their fields had already made clear they would boycott a White House reception presided over by Trump. His decision capped a week in which the blowback against his remarks was sharp and swift.
Elected and former elected officials in both parties urged Trump to more forcefully denounce the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who marched through Charlottesville, while others openly questioned his competence and moral leadership.
Corporate titans whom Trump enjoyed schmoozing with at the White House fled advisory boards they had agreed to serve on, while uni- formed leaders of the armed services denounced racism and hatred without naming their commander in chief.
One of Trump's evangelical advisers also stepped down, and the number of major charities that are canceling fundraisers planned for Trump's property in Palm Beach, Florida, has been rising.
"The president and first lady have decided not to participate in this year's activities to allow the honorees to celebrate without any political distraction," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. Sanders said the Trumps offer their "sincerest congratulations and well wishes to all of this year's award recipients for their many accomplishments."
Television writer and producer Norman Lear, among the five honorees announced earlier this month, had questioned whether Trump would want to attend the gala "given his indifference or worse regarding the arts and humanities." Trump has recommended eliminating funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Lear was unavailable for comment Saturday, said a representative who referred to a tweet he posted following Trump's comments earlier in the week. "I fought Nazis in World War II. They aren't "very fine people," @real Donald Trump. #Charlottesville," Lear said.
Dancer Carmen de Lavallade said on her website Thursday that she was honored to be recognized, but would not go to the White House.
"In light of the socially divisive and morally caustic narrative that our existing leadership is choosing to engage in, and in keeping with the principles that I and so many others have fought for, I will be declining the invitation to attend the reception at the White House," she said.