Robert F. Kennedy Jr. does not seem to be too involved about Donald Trump altering the identify of the Kennedy Center.
Last month, the U.S. president’s appointed board on the Washington, D.C. performing arts venue voted to rename itself the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, as detailed by spokeswoman Roma Daravi in a press release (through CNN).
Asked in regards to the determination by CBS NewsKennedy Jr., who’s the Health and Human Services Secretary, mentioned that whereas a number of members of his family have been upset by the renaming, the problem isn’t amongst his high priorities.
“Of course, I understand it, but I have bigger fish to fry,” Kennedy mentioned. “If we lose any children in this country to obesity, heart disease — 77 percent of our kids can’t qualify for the military. Saving one life is more important to me than the name on a building.”
While the choice to rename the constructing is not excessive up on RFK’s listing of priorities, it did upset longtime middle performer, jazz musician Chuck Redd, who determined to cancel their annual Christmas Eve present due to the renaming.
Redd, who has been organizing Jazz Jams engagements on the middle since 2006, mentioned: “When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert.”
However, in accordance to Rolling StoneRedd’s determination to pull out has left middle president Richard Grenell searching for $1 million in damages for what he is calling a “political stunt.”
“Your decision to withdraw at the last moment — explicitly in response to the Center’s recent renaming, which honors President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure — is classic intolerance and very costly to a non-profit Arts institution,” Grenell wrote in a letter, per Associated Press.
The president added that the transfer was “sad bullying tactics employed by certain elements on the left” and accused them of attempting to “intimidate artists into boycotting performances at our national cultural center.”