The Kennedy Center set the stage for “Les Misérables” on June 11 but the real revolution unfolded in the audience where President Donald Trump was in attendance.
Just days before his 79th birthday, Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump appeared at the Kennedy Center for the performance of “Les Misérables,” a musical that explores themes of injustice, poverty and revolution against a “tyrannical king.”
“I’ve seen it many times, it’s one of my favorites,” Trump said, per Reuters.
“The Kennedy Center is coming back. It was not properly taken care of, and we are taking it back and we are going to turn it back into something great.”
The President’s attendance marks his first return to the theater since he controversially fired much of its leadership and promised to rid the institution of what he called its “woke” programming.
“NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA,” he wrote in a Truth Social post on February 10.
Staged boycott
But in the days leading up to the show, CNN confirmed that some cast members of “Les Misérables” planned to boycott the performance in protest of Trump’s attendance. The production reportedly gave the cast the option to bow out of that evening’s show, and several key performers, including lead actors and ensemble members, chose not to take the stage in what appeared to be a quiet yet powerful protest.
When asked before the show about the public outcry, Trump said: “I couldn’t care less. Honestly, I couldn’t. All I do is run the country well.”
Drag queens
And, according to NPR, some ticket-holders donated their seats to drag performers, adding another layer of defiant flair to the night.
“It was protest by taking up space,” Tara Hoot, one of the attending queens, told the outlet. “We wanted to support the artists and bring attention to the drag ban at the Kennedy Center by showing up and being gorgeous.”
Hoot, along with a handful of other performers, took their seats donated by Trump critics, and were greeted with applause.
‘Felon!’
By intermission, the drama wasn’t limited to the stage. As the lights came up at the end of Act I, the audience erupted once again as POTUS and his wife stood up in the presidential box.
But it wasn’t only cheers and applause that bounced off the walls of the DC cultural center.
According to CNN, a woman seated in the orchestra section suddenly shouted, “Felon, you’re a convicted felon!”
The crowd noise dipped, and her voice cut through even clearer: “Convicted felon, rapist!”
Security was on her in seconds, escorting her out as stunned audience members looked on.
Then, from somewhere else in the crowd, a voice rang out: “F**k Trump!”
Fist pumping
That expletive sparked a wave of wild applause and cheering.
Just moments later, counter-shouts of “We love you!” echoed back, followed by a fresh round of boos, and then “U.S.A! U.S.A!”
Trump responded in full campaign-rally mode, pumping his fist in the air three times. The gesture was unmistakable, mirroring the now-famous fist-raising moment he made after surviving an assassination attempt last year in Pennsylvania, when he defiantly yelled to the crowd: “Fight, fight, fight.”
‘Wildly ironic’
Videos of the couple being met with boos – and some applause – quickly went viral online with many netizens commenting that it’s “wildly ironic” that Trump was seeing “Les Misérables” “while he sends troops to attack protesters.”
His appearance at the megamusical – that tells the story of disenfranchised people rising up against their government in 19th-century France – comes just as Trump was sending the National Guard into Los Angeles to quell escalating anti-deportation protests.
“Someone explain the plot to him,” democratic California governor Gavin Newsom quipped on X, alongside a news clip with the headline: “Trump attends ‘Les Misérables’ premiere as protests persist across the country.”
“I swear I am not making this up. Trump [at] the Kennedy Center to see ‘Les Misérables,’ a play about a mass uprising against a tyrannical king…the satire writes itself,” adds a second.
“More boos than cheers. Wait until he figures out the plot of ‘Les Misérables,’” shared a third.
Meanwhile, others offered their thoughts on the cheers and boos.
“In an absolutely embarrassing moment, Donald Trump was just booed mercilessly at the Kennedy Center. Gotta love it,” tweets another user who also added the clip of audience reaction.
“It’s hard for MAGA brains to understand this but…A lot of people hate Trump,” writes a second while another adds, “Should’ve been all boos.”
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