TRUMP BOWS OUT OF JFK AWARD BASH
A-list stars’ refusal to share stage forces move
PRESIDENT Donald Trump and First Lady Melania have chosen not to attend this year’s Kennedy Center Honors ceremony, the White House said yesterday.
The decision comes after several of this year’s recipients – including Norman Lear and Lionel Richie – said they would skip the traditional reception in protest at his political agenda and his response to the white supremacist violence last weekend in Charlottesville.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: “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.
“First Lady Melania Trump, along with her husband President Donald J Trump, extend their sincerest congratulations and well-wishes to all of this year’s award recipients for their many accomplishments.” The move is the latest sign of the backlash against Trump from the entertainment industry after his series of conflicting statements about the violence that left a 32-year-old woman dead.
After he insisted leftist counterprotesters shared blame for the situation in Charlottesville and asserted some participants in the far-right rally were “fine people,” the condemnation from Hollywood as well as other
sectors has been swift. On Friday, members of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities resigned en masse in protest of his statements.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of anti-racism protesters yesterday opposed the “Free Speech” rally in Boston that featured right-wing speakers.
Tensions were high after violent demonstrations in Charlottesville.
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