The name change of the Kennedy Center provokes outrage among some relatives of the former president
Controversy grows over adding Donald Trump's name to the Kennedy Center; some relatives of the former Democratic president disapprove of the move
The decision to change the name of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts by adding that of President Donald J. Trump has caused outrage among some relatives of the former president, who was assassinated in 1963.
On Thursday afternoon, the institution's board of trustees voted to change the building's name to to honor both the former Democratic president and the current Republican president.
“The Kennedy Center Board of Trustees voted unanimously today to name the institution the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts,” spokeswoman Roma Daravi said in a statement.
The name change, which took place 24 hours after it was approved, as shown in photographs of maintenance workers removing the letters from the building, drew sharp criticism.
Kerry Kennedy, daughter of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who was also assassinated, but in 1964, took to social media, formerly known as Twitter, to warn that, at the end of Donald Trump's term, she will be prepared to remove the New York tycoon's name herself from the building in Washington, D.C.
“In three years and one month, I'm going to grab a pickaxe and rip those letters off that building, but I'm going to need Help holding the ladder. Want to help? I'm applying for my carpenter's card today, so it'll be union work!
John F. Kennedy proudly championed justice, peace, equality, dignity, diversity, and compassion for those who suffer.
President Trump opposes these values, and his name should not appear alongside President Kennedy's,” wrote the former president's niece.
From the perspective of Maria Shriver, also a niece of former President Kennedy and former First Lady of California, the proposed name change is anything but funny and even undignified.
“It is ludicrous that he thinks adding his name before President Kennedy's is acceptable.It isn't. Next, he'll want to change the name of JFK Airport, the Lincoln Memorial, the Trump Lincoln Memorial, the Trump Jefferson Memorial, the Trump Smithsonian Museum, and so on,” he also stated on X.
Aligned with the same sentiment, Joe Kennedy III, grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, also disapproved of the addition of a new name to the aforementioned site.
“Changing the name of a living memorial to a fallen president, and which bears President Kennedy's name by federal law, is as difficult as changing the name of the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says,” he expressed on the same platform.