The View host and political commentator Ana Navarro begged Kennedy Center Honoree and “I Will Survive” singer Gloria Gaynor to reject Donald Trump’s award, telling her, “Don’t do it, Gloria!”
“A few years ago, I got to briefly meet @gloriagaynor at a concert in Miami. She gifted me a keychain that belted out ‘I Will Survive,’ when you pressed it. Let’s just say, during [the] first Trump term, I pressed it ‘til it ran out of batteries,” Navarro wrote on Instagram Thursday during The View’s summer hiatus. “Yesterday, Trump announced he picked her to receive a Kennedy Center Honor, which he plans to host. Look, the woman is a goddess and deserves all the flowers that come her way. But I wish she wouldn’t accept an award from the hands of a man who has attacked the rights and history of women, people of color, and LGBTQ.”
She went on, “The gay community in particular helped turn her signature song into an anthem. Trump is a stain on the prestige and significance of the KCH. Don’t do it, Gloria!”
Trump announced the Kennedy Center honorees on Wednesday, and also revealed that he would be hosting the show and fantasized about renaming the award after himself.
Hosting the 46th annual broadcast of the Honors, which airs on CBS, was at one time a regular gig for the network’s resident late-night host and Trump-nemesis Stephen Colbert, whose show’s demise was met with Trump’s glee. Trump claimed, incredulously, that he didn’t want to host the show but was convinced to do so by staff. “I have agreed to host—do you believe what I have to do?” he said Wednesday.
Other nominees the president announced include his ’80s heroes Sylvester Stallone, George Strait, Michael Crawford. Also on the list was the band KISS despite the fact that some members of that band are not his biggest fans.
Gaynor has never supported a political candidate, but she is known for being a devout Christian and has drawn fire for keeping her LGBTQ fans at arms length.
When asked about how she feels about being dubbed a “gay icon,” Gaynor demurred. “I feel good about it because I feel it is a platform for my purpose, which is to bring the love of Christ to all of my fans. Because they trust me, I think,” she told the BBC in 2007. Asked whether she was “religiously opposed” to homosexuality, she replied that she wanted to “lead” her fans to “Christ.”
Despite her song having also becoming a feminist anthem, Gaynor said in the same interview that she does not consider herself a feminist. In May this year in an interview with Metro, Gaynor said the “biggest misconception” about her is that she ascribes to the label: “People say to me, ‘And since you’re a feminist…’ Erm, no. Not really. I love men. I grew up with five brothers, and I love men.”
She added, “I love men who know who they are and are strong enough to take their place, but also strong enough to recognize a woman’s strengths and who are able to allow her to exercise those strengths and realize that we are to be partners and not opponents.”
