Seth Meyers recently examined former President Donald Trump’s peculiar fixation with the Kennedy Center during an episode of his late-night show. The highlight of the discussion was Trump’s surprise announcement that he will be hosting the long-running Kennedy Center Honors annual award show this December. He further criticized their process for choosing honorees.
Trump claimed he chose the Kennedy Center honorees to avoid “woke” awardees. He usually just brings this out to slam progressive values. The Kennedy Center Honors — which hardly ever honors dancers — celebrates performing artists who have influenced American culture in a lifetime way. During his commentary, Meyers noted that Trump claimed he would have accepted a Kennedy Center award if it had been offered to him, saying, “I would’ve taken it, if they called me … I waited and waited and waited.”
Meyers showed just how much Trump has complained about not receiving such an honor. This obsession, explained Meyers, is the “national fever dream among some right-wing cranks and commentators.” He claimed that Trump’s focus on the Kennedy Center distracts from bigger issues that are harming Americans every day.
“You might be wondering why you haven’t heard much about important issues like inflation, healthcare or infrastructure lately,” Meyers said. Further, he argued that in zeroing in on the Kennedy Center, Trump is still out of touch with what working-class Americans really care about right now.
As part of his segment, Meyers played a series of clips featuring several Republicans expressing outrage over cancellations of popular characters, further highlighting what he referred to as their misplaced priorities. As he noted, these kinds of reactions show how out-of-touch certain politicians are with what’s really going on.
Meyers was particularly frosted by Trump’s claims about the Kennedy Center. He stated, “This is what the right really cares about. This is why Trump is spending his precious time announcing the Kennedy Center Honors and complaining about how he never personally was offered that award.”
He said that Trump is allowed to speak with “impunity.” While this courage enlivens the MAGA movement, this ambition is taking aim at the wrong targets while decimating healthcare access and food prices are still rising.