Kennedy Center reportedly changed rules before vote to add Trump’s name | Donald Trump
The Kennedy Center reportedly adopted a charter earlier this year that would limit voting to trustees appointed by Donald Trump; This appears to be a controversial move that exposes a long-standing plan to place Trump’s name at the center.
In a possible violation of the institution’s charter, the bylaws were revised in May and stated that board members appointed by Congress and known as ex officio members cannot vote or count as a quorum. According to the Washington Post.
The new rule was in effect after the board voted unanimously on December 18 to add Trump’s name to the center and rebrand the building as the Donald J Trump and John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.
The name change has since triggered a wave of protests. Artists canceled bookings and members of Congress vowed to cancel the name change. Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio, is tied sue to reverse this on the grounds that changing the center’s name required an act of Congress.
Trump took over as chairman of the board in February and quickly purged existing members while installing supporters, including longtime foreign policy adviser Ric Grenell, whom he appointed as chairman of the center. Grenell has been a vocal tribune of Trump’s “America First” ideology and has not been afraid to ruffle feathers in his past stints as ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence (he First openly gay person leading the intelligence community).
Immediately before his appointment to the Kennedy Center, Grenell served as the president’s special envoy and was involved in securing the release of Americans detained in Venezuela.
The center lists 34 presidentially appointed board members and 23 ex officio members, which by law must include the mayor of Washington, D.C., the director of the library of Congress, and the majority and minority leaders of the Senate. According to the Post, the federal law supporting the center’s establishment stated that the venue’s board of trustees included ex officio members and was charged with preserving it in memory of President John F. Kennedy.
Roma Daravi, the center’s vice president of public affairs, told the Post that the rules were changed in line with the long-standing convention that members do not vote ex officio: “The regulations were revised to reflect this long-standing precedent, and the technical changes were given to everyone both before the meeting and after the revisions.”
Daravi continued: “Some members attended in person (including ex officio), others participated by phone, and no concerns were expressed, no one objected, and the charter was adopted unanimously.”
Ellen Aprill, a legal expert at UCLA, told the paper that such voting rights limits violate the center’s charter.
“Clearly, the intent of the contract provisions was to entrust Kennedy Center guidance to a broad group of people, not just presidential appointees,” he said.
The statement came as new figures show Sharp decline in television ratings for this year’s Kennedy Center honors. This year’s annual honors broadcast shown by CBS — hosted by Trump himself — was watched by a record-low audience of 3.01 million; This represents a sharp decrease of 25% compared to last year. The event featured some of Trump’s favorite artists, including Gloria Gaynor, Kiss and George Strait.
While artists are canceling reservations, Trump on social media A series of statements were released from supporters on Tuesday criticizing the claim that the Kennedy family did not support the center. Her posts on the Truth Social network began just hours after the Kennedy family announced that JFK’s granddaughter Tatiana Schlossberg had died of leukemia at the age of 35.
The Guardian has contacted the Kennedy Center for comment.
