'Total fraud' music act Milli Vanilli 'perfect' for White House extravaganza

On Wednesday, the musical lineup was announced for the Great American State Fair to be held at the National Mall in June as part of Freedom 250 — the country's semiquincentennial celebration and a pet project of President Donald Trump’s. Some have called the impending MAGA extravaganza “authoritarian,” while others have said it’s something right out of the film Idiocracy. One performer who will take the stage has many suggesting that the movie reference may be particularly apt.

Fab Morvan, the remaining half of the musical duo Milli Vanilli, will perform under his infamous act’s moniker. Many have pointed out that this is a somewhat ironic inclusion, as Milli Vanilli were exposed as lip-syncing frauds in 1989, and the Trump administration has been characterized by grift and fraud.

“Milli Vanilli. That's perfect.....” joked one X user in response to the announcement. "Makes sense because they were total frauds,” noted another. “Milli Vanilli were German lol,” noted another, pointing out the irony of a foreign performer headlining an event celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States.

Milli Vanilli will join the likes of Vanilla Ice, Martina McBride, Flo Rida, Bret Michaels, and more. Vanilla Ice has become particularly associated with Trump and the MAGA movement in recent years, and Flo Rida has voiced support for Trump. Other acts included on the bill have maintained a more apolitical stance, including Morvan. But Milli Vanilli’s inclusion is still raising eyebrows.

As the Mirror explains, “Milli Vanilli, founded in 1988 by producer Frank Farian, rose to fame for their eclectic sound and blend of genres, including R&B and disco. Their debut US album, Girl You Know It’s True, sat at number one on the Billboard charts for eight weeks and produced three number-one singles. The duo even won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1990. Milli Vanilli faced backlash when they were exposed for lip-syncing during a performance on the Club MTV tour in Connecticut in July 1989. The backing track for their song ‘Girl You Know It’s True’ began skipping, repeating ‘Girl, you know it’s…’ as the artists panicked.”

Farian went on to admit that the duo had not sung the songs for which they were so acclaimed, and their career was ruined. The duo attempted a comeback in 1992 by releasing an album featuring their own vocals, but it sold just 2,000 copies. Morvan’s co-performer, Rob Pilatus, died of a drug overdose in 1998 just before they attempted a tour.

The wider fair lineup has drawn no shortage of guffaws.

“A few of these are fine, but June 26 has gotta be someone playing a sick late 80s/early 90s joke on the country,” tweeted Scott Linciome of the Cato Institute. “This lineup would've crushed in 1989,” joked former Obama staffer Tommy Vietor. And Bulwark culture editor Sonny Bunch pulled no punches, declaring, “This is the worst lineup of musical acts I have ever seen.”