Trump’s interior secretary dismisses calls to identify donors for ‘nonpartisan’ concert series | Trump administration
Doug Burgum, the Trump administration’s interior secretary. reported Some musicians “appeared to have segmented their audiences” after artists backed out of a concert series planned for the 250th anniversary of US independence, it was said on Sunday.
In an interview with CNN’s State of the Union, Burgum also rejected calls to publicly disclose who donated to the concert series and argued that it was a “non-partisan” event, despite Donald Trump calling it a rally.
“I can’t weigh in on the politics of musicians because some musicians want to play music for everyone. And some musicians seem to segment their audiences the same way politicians do,” Burgum said. said State of the Union host Dana Bash. “The celebration of Freedom 250 and 250 is a non-partisan event.”
Bash pushed back on Burgum on the nonpartisan claim, saying the musicians suggested they were misinformed that the event in Washington, D.C., was apolitical.
Asked about Trump calling it a Maga rally, a reference to the president’s Make America Great Again slogan, Burgum said: “Yes, it is, but I think that’s something we can all definitely understand.”
Burgum said he didn’t know if the concert series would be canceled. He reiterated his complaints about criticism of the concert series. he asked about its financing and whether donations made for it will be made public.
“This is not about donor transparency,” Burgum said. “This is about Americans celebrating the 250th anniversary, again about the fact that we have so much to celebrate in our country right now — and we’re talking about a single event on a single night in the nation’s capital.”
Trump criticized musicians for backing out of a summer concert series planned to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States.
At least seven of the nine artists canceled their scheduled performances, claiming they were misled by organizers that the event would be non-partisan. These included the Commodores, C+C Music Factory, Martina McBride and Milli Vanilli.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump considered stepping in on their behalf himself.
He wrote: “I understand that artists are getting ‘ips’ for their performance on Wednesday, so I intend to bring the Number One Attraction anywhere in the world, the man who has a much larger audience than Elvis in his prime and did it without his guitar, who loved our Country more than anyone and who some say is the Greatest President in History… DONALD J TRUMP will replace these highly paid, Third Class ‘Artists’ and move the Country forward as I have done since I became President.” big speech!”
The President added, “I just want to be surrounded by Happy People, Smart People, Successful People, and people who know how to WIN. So, with a copy of this FACT, I am ordering my Representatives to look into the feasibility of holding an AMERICA IS BACK Rally in Washington DC, Wednesday, same time, same location. Only Great Patriots invited – This will be a Wild and Beautiful Celebration of America!”
In a post later the same day, Trump said: “We should have a giant 250 person MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN RALLY instead of overpriced singers whose music no one wants to hear is boring and yet do nothing but complain.”
Burgum touched on other topics in his interview with CNN. to defend High profit margins for contractors given no-bid contracts by the Trump administration to renovate the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool for its 250th anniversary celebration.
Separately, Burgum told CNN that the administration may appeal a judge’s decision to remove Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
