The miserable optics of Trump at ‘Les Misérables’
President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and their wives are expected to attend Wednesday’s opening-night performance of “Les Misérables” at the Kennedy Center, a tone-deaf move that makes it abundantly clear Trump has no idea what the musical is really about.
“I love the songs, I love the play,” Trump told Fox News Digital last week. “I think it’s great.”
Set against a backdrop of revolution and rebellion, “Les Misérables” tells the sweeping story of ordinary people rising up against a corrupt regime. At its center is Jean Valjean, a former prisoner convicted for stealing bread and who goes on the run again after getting out. Since its debut, the show has become a global protest anthem, one recently embraced by pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong.
Yet here comes Trump, planning to attend a performance just as protests swell across the U.S. over his latest brutal crackdown on immigration and his deployment of military forces in Los Angeles.
In other words, the optics are not great.
During his first term, Trump didn’t attend a single performance at the Kennedy Center, but in February of this year, he ransacked the venue, replacing the full board of trustees and installing himself as the chair, where he remains to this day.
In response to his shake-up, a string of artists and productions backed out in protest. Actor Issa Rae pulled an event, and the hit musical “Hamilton” bowed out.
“Given the recent actions, our show simply cannot, in good conscience, participate and be a part of this new culture that is being imposed on the Kennedy Center,” Jeffrey Seller, a “Hamilton” producer, said in March.
Meanwhile, the center’s financial picture is dimming. Single-ticket sales in April and May dropped nearly 50% from last year, according to The New York Times. But the real blow is in subscriptions—the Kennedy Center’s core revenue stream—which have crumbled. Because of that, revenue from theater subscriptions is down 82%, and for dance, it’s down 57%. More recently, Reuters reported that subscription revenue for next season, set to begin this fall, has already fallen 36% year-over-year, sinking to just $2.8 million as of early June.
It’s not hard to see why. Since returning to power in January, Trump has gone scorched-earth on the arts, pulling funding, slashing grants, and proposing to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Now “Les Misérables” is facing its own backstage revolt. Up to a dozen cast members are expected to boycott the performance Trump is expected to attend on Wednesday.
Still, a spokesperson for the show told NBC News on Wednesday it was “looking forward to performing for D.C. audiences beginning tonight and throughout the engagement at the Kennedy Center, where the U.S. first saw the original production in 1986.”
The evening also doubles as a fundraiser for the Kennedy Center. The venue confirmed that security will be boosted.
Inside the theater, though, it’s anyone’s guess how the crowd will respond. After all, when the Vances attended a Kennedy Center performance earlier this year, the crowd booed. And NPR is reporting that a small group of drag performers plans to protest outside the center on Wednesday night.
Trump may be humming along to “Do You Hear the People Sing?” But if he really listened, he might realize it’s not a love song. It’s a warning.
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