Trump to skip Kennedy Center Honors program
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — 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, Va.
The Kennedy Center said it respected Trump’s decision and the show will go on.
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. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss internal deliberations and insisted on anonymity to comment.
Trump has blamed “both sides” for the Aug. 12 violence that left an anti-racism activist dead.
Presidents traditionally host a light-hearted and oftentimes humorous gathering for the honorees at the White House before the awards ceremony at the performing arts center. Trump will not hold that reception this year, and he and the first lady will not attend the gala.
It will be the fourth time in the awards’ 40-year history that a president will miss out on the ceremony.
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.
Some celebrities supported Trump. “Wise solution. Recipients wanted to boycott; POTUS deferred and graciously withdrew. Problem solved. A perfect metaphor. #DISENGAGE,” tweeted actor James Woods.
Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton missed the gala due to major issues that demanded their time. Carter didn’t attend in 1979 because of the Iran hostage crisis, Bush was at a summit in Malta in 1989 while Clinton was on his way to a conference in 1994.