A Kennedy Center board member has accused the White House of lying about the organization’s “unanimous” vote to change the center’s name to the “Trump-Kennedy Center,” claiming her dissent was censored.
On Thursday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that the Trump-controlled board “voted unanimously” for the name change. The rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), who sits on the center board, posted a video to X after the announcement making it clear that she was on the call when the decision was made and was silenced so she could not voice her dissenting opinion.
“What you can hear is that there was a unanimous vote to rename the Kennedy Center the Trump Center,” Beatty said. “Be clear, I was on that call and as I tried to press my button to express my concerns, to ask questions, and certainly not vote in support of this, I was silent. Every time I tried to speak I was silent. The participants were not allowed to express their concerns that they were online but in the end it was said that it was a unanimous vote.”
She continued: “Obviously, Congress has a say in this. This center – the Kennedy Center – was created by Congress. I think it’s important for us to know that this is just another attempt to circumvent the law, and not let the people have a say.”
The president named himself chairman of the Kennedy Center earlier this year after taking office. He hinted at the name change in October in a Social Truth post.
The proposal to change the center’s name to the Trump-Kennedy Center was also contested online by members of President John F. Kennedy’s family on Thursday.
“Maybe the board is not aware that the Kennedy Center is the memorial to the president of the United States, John F. Kennedy,” Tim Shriver, JFK’s grandson, wrote on X. “Would the Lincoln Memorial be renamed? The Jefferson? This would be an insult to great presidents. This is also an insult to a great president.”
Other members of the Kennedy family who expressed concern included Maria Shriver and Joe Kennedy III.
“The Kennedy Center was named for my uncle, President John F. Kennedy,” wrote Shriver, JFK’s niece. “It was named in his honor. He was a man who was interested in art, interested in culture, interested in education, language, history. He brought art to the White House, and he and Aunt Jackie amplified art, celebrated art, stood up for art and artists.”
She added: “It is beyond comprehension that this sitting president would seek to change the name of this great memorial dedicated to President Kennedy. It is beyond savage to think that adding his name in front of President Kennedy’s name is acceptable. It is not.”
Joe Kennedy III added that the Kennedy Center makeover can “no sooner be renamed than anyone can name the Lincoln Memorial, regardless of what anyone says.”
In July, House Republican’s introduced a bill that aimed to remove former President Kennedy’s name from the center, and change it to the Trump Center for the Performing Arts.
The change in the name of the center was part of legislation introduced by Rep. Bob Onder (R-Missouri) called the Make Entertainment Great Again (MEGA) Act. Onder noted in his bill that Trump intended “to preserve the integrity of the arts by ending wake programming and rebalancing the Kennedy Center’s $234 million budget” since he was elected president.
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