Melania Trump was a first lady of few words as she walked the red carpet with husband Donald at the Kennedy Center Wednesday night—and even then he managed to cut her off.
Melania was out on a rare date night with the president to see the revolution- and oppression-based musical Les Misérables at the newly MAGAfied Kennedy Center.
Trump installed himself as chairman of the Kennedy Center in February, promising to remove any “woke” productions from the iconic Washington venue.
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During a 10-minute red carpet interview on Wednesday, the Trumps were asked to recall the first theater production each had seen.
“Oooh it was a long time ago,” the president said. “I would say maybe it was Cats.”
Melania was then asked to recall the first theater production she saw. She answered, “Phantom of the Opera,” without expanding on her answer.
She upped her word count when asked if she was a fan of Les Misérables: “I am, I am,” she responded, before Trump cut in. “We’ll be bringing a lot of them in right here,” he added, before the pair were asked whether they would consume popcorn and Diet Coke while watching the production. Trump, again, responded instead of his wife. “I think so,” Trump said, as Melania mouthed the word “No” in response.
Melania remained smiling and silent during the red carpet appearance at Wednesday’s Kennedy Center premiere. Her husband was questioned about which Les Misérables main character he identified with more–Jean Valjean or Inspector Javert?
Jean Valjean is a former convict who spends a lifetime seeking redemption and fighting for the poor and needy, Javert is a strict cop determined to enforce France’s brutal penal codes.
The president, clearly thrown, stalled by saying, “That’s a tough one, the last part of that question that’s tough.”
He then deflected to his wife noting “I think you better answer that one honey, I don’t know...”
Melania remained silent.
“I’ve seen it, we’ve seen it a number of times,” the president said of Les Misérables, “It’s fantastic. We have others coming (to the Kennedy Center), other great ones are coming.”
The Trumps were met with boos by the Kennedy Center audience as they sat down. Cheers could also be heard before the production started.
Ex-White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham claimed in her 2021 book that during his first term in office, Trump had a “Music Man” who would drop his favorite show tunes on demand as an anger management tactic.
They included “Memory” from Cats and “The Music of the Night” from the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack. Trump has played both those songs at his rallies, opting to pump up the MAGA masses with dramatic theatre classics.
“Do You Hear the People Sing?” from Les Misérables also joined Trump’s rally playlist in back in 2016. The song is a cry for a revolution against the powers that be to save the downtrodden. The creators of the musical voiced their anger that Trump was using the song at a political rally.
Trump has regularly bragged about getting a personal letter from Andrew Lloyd Webber inviting him to the New York opening of Phantom of the Opera in 1988.
An unabashed theater lover, Trump previously stated he saw Evita on Broadway six times with ex-wife Ivana and his review of Phantom of the Opera was “great.”
The Kennedy Center has seen a number of boycotts since Trump’s MAGA takeover. Musician Ben Folds quit the Kennedy Center after Trump came on board. In March he told CBS News he had never witnessed political interference in the arts at this scale due to Trump’s “authoritarian instinct.”
“Let’s say I get in an artist that has different views than the president,” Folds said.“Do they feel safe being themselves? Do they feel safe saying what they believe? They’re not political shows, but you can express what you’d like to.”
Last month more than 90 staffers at the celebrated venue announced plans to unionize.
