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It was only a few weeks ago that US president Donald Trump faced criticism for renaming the Institute of Peace after himself, and now the convicted felon has sparked a backlash for inserting his name into the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Announcing the news on Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X/Twitter that the center’s board “voted unanimously” for the rebrand “because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building”.
“Not only from the standpoint of its reconstructions, but also financially, and its reputation.
“Congratulations to President Donald J. Trump, and likewise, congratulations to President Kennedy, because this will be a truly great team long into the future! The building will no doubt attain new levels of success and grandeur,” she said.
Except, much like the president’s decision to rebrand the Department of Defense as the Department of War, the renaming of the Kennedy Center has happened without approval from Congress, with John F. Kennedy’s grandson and political candidate Jack Schlossberg taking to Instagram on Friday to share a photo of US legislation about a name change.
The text reads: “Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the Board shall assure that after December 2, 1983, no additional memorials or plaques in the nature of memorials shall be designated or installed in the public areas of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.”
And he isn’t the only social media user to criticise the move from the Trump administration, with writer Jay Nordinger branding it “vandalism”:
Another commented: “Our best presidents have understood that the office they hold and the country they serve [are] bigger than them”:
“Now we know what living in a place like North Korea is like,” tweeted journalist Mehdi Hasan:
Republicans Against Trump wrote: “The next president should remove Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center on day one”:
Grandnephew Joe Kennedy III noted the memorial to President Kennedy was done so “by federal law”:
And Maria Shriver, who was Kennedy’s niece, said the name change is “beyond comprehension” and “downright weird”:
The White House has been approached by indy100 for comment.
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