Great job on the PBS NewsHour tonight (see below for video and highlights) by former Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA10), who *really* has risen to the occasion as a “Never Trump” (former?) Republican, in this case talking about Trump trashing the Kennedy Center. Note that former Rep. Comstock served on the Kennedy Center board, and clearly cares deeply about the arts in general and about the Kennedy Center specifically.
First, though, I’ve just gotta say, the media – in this case the PBS NewsHour – continues to make some fundamental, glaring mistakes when it comes to their coverage of Trump. For instance, in the intro to tonight’s interview with former Rep. Comstock, Geoff Bennett said the words, “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, recently renamed the Trump-Kennedy Center.” That, of course, is a wild LIE, as Trump had ZERO legal justification for “renaming” the Kennedy Center; for one thing, the Kennedy Center was established by Congress, and only Congress can change its name (which it hasn’t done). So, at the bare minimum, if the NewsHour is going to mention the “Trump-Kennedy Center” b.s., they should point out the illegaility of what Trump did. But…nope, they didn’t do that. Why the hell not???
In stark contrast to the mealy-mouthed (or wosre) media, in this case the PBS NewsHour, former Rep. Comstock just flat-out states the facts of what’s going on, doesn’t sugarcoat it or frame it in some way that’s favorable or groveling to Trump. See below for the video, as well as a few highlights from what she had to say.
- “Like so many things with Donald Trump, he makes it about himself. The Kennedy Center has been a living memorial for 55 years to President Kennedy and to the arts. And it has been nonpartisan. In one short year, [Trump] has destroyed all of that. So it is very troubling for those of us who have enjoyed it for decades. And for somebody who did participate as a board member, it is very troubling to see another lawless action – first he put his name on it. He has attacked and besmirched people who were involved in dedicating their careers to the Kennedy Center. So he makes it about himself, and now because it’s been a failure, because people have left and not wanted to be involved with it now, because what he has done, he is now shutting it down, and now we have to worry about what he might do. Will he try and destroy the building itself like he has the East Wing? We can’t trust he will do anything legal, because there is an open case right now challenging what he has done putting his own name on it. That itself I certainly don’t think is legal. The way he has removed board members, certainly we don’t think it’s legal. And he hasn’t involved Congress in this, which provides funding. And we don’t see the leadership in Congress will step up and challenge it.”
- [In response to a really stupid/naive question about whether or not the Kennedy Center Board – now headed by Trump himself, with a bunch of Trump yes-men and yes-women – will approve Trump’s plans for the Center, and whether Congress should have a role to play. Duh!] “Well, certainly, Congress should. I don’t have a lot of trust that they will because this Congress, this leadership has shown no interest in standing up to Donald Trump. Certainly this board, which is his board – I mean, he made this decision, then he said ‘I’ll give it to my board’. And we know how his boards usually perform. So it is very troubling. But yes, Congress should stand up and do its own job since they provided the money. And if they don’t, I certainly hope those of us involved in lawsuits, I certainly hope those who are concerned about it will withhold funding until it’s shown there will be bipartisan action on this. And it should not be shut down. I mean, that is very troubling. All of us who have seen the Kennedy Center in action for decades have seen that this has functioned fine until he came along in this past year and destroyed all of that.”
- [Another bizarre/stupid/naive question, this time quoting Richard Grenell of all people, as if he’s some sort of reliable source, and treating his expressed “concerns” about the Kennedy Center as legitimate. Again, WTF??? Why on earth would any self-respecting journalist do that? Are these reporters imbeciles or are they just intentionally groveling to Trump? Both?] “Well I think the programming has been speaking for itself. It has been filled up for decades. And Rick Grenell is certainly not a competent person to be heading it up. He did not have the background to be put in charge of this. So it’s very sad to see a partisan like this, again, somebody who has been smearing the reputations of the people who have been involved on a voluntary basis, dedicating their money as well as their careers to this institution, and then he comes along and attacks it, with no background or experience in this.”
- “Well, I certainly hope it does not come to that [a two-year shutdown]. My understanding is, Donald Trump has been out there shaking down the community for money. So who’s been giving money to this right now? What’s going on? What is the plan for this? When we look at what he’s done, the example we’ve already seen of what he’s done with the East Wing, what is the vision of what he’s going to do? When he’s asking people to give money, and then he has this partisan board that is his board, who is making these decisions? So I think this needs to be taken out of his hands and out of the hands of his partisans and put it back into the hands of an independent board, into the hands of Congress and oversight. It would be tragic to have this revered arts center destroyed by somebody who’s never shown any love of the arts.”
