Podcaster Cari Champion and Federalist reporter Brianna Lyman (YouTube Screengrab)
Podcaster Cari Champion took Federalist reporter Brianna Lyman to task for ‘normalizing’ President Donald Trump’s recent changes to the Kennedy Center.
Lyman argued that Trump has improved the Kennedy Center since returning to office, despite revenues at the venue plummeting under Trump’s influence.
“President Trump comes in, they are renovating. They cut salaries that were needlessly high. They are bringing people to come and see the arts, for once. It was not that lively of an institution under the Biden administration. So don't pretend like you care about the Kennedy Center now, when you're quiet when it was falling into disrepair,” Lymon argued.
“The fact that Trump is putting his name on every single thing and you want to normalize it like it's normal, tells me that you're the problem and not the solution,” replied Champion. “This man's mental acuity is off. He clearly is unstable and no one's talking about it. You have a walk of fame and you're talking about other presidents in a derogatory way. This is the highest office in the land. And I'm just going to go back to the basics. What he's done is disrespected it, and people such as yourself want to normalize that behavior.”
John F. Kennedy's niece, veteran journalist Maria Shriver, has clashed with MAGA Republicans efforts to rename the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as far back as July, posting on X, "This is insane. It makes my blood boil. It’s so ridiculous, so petty, so small minded. Truly, what is this about? It's always about something. 'Let’s get rid of the Rose Garden. Let's rename the Kennedy Center.' What’s next?"
A few months later Shriver got her answer as the curtain fell away to reveal Trump’s name clumsily screwed into the façade over the name of the person the building was build to memorialize.
“What Maria Shriver was suggesting was like, this isn't funny anymore,” said Champion. “Let's take a look at what's happening. You can't normalize this behavior. This is one of many things that this president has done that should not be normalized. And if we keep continuing to look away, we will find ourselves in a state of disrepair that we cannot come back from.”
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