Speaker 1: Hey, the folks.
Speaker 2: It is Friday, August fourteenth, and at some point when
Speaker 2: Trump put his name on the Kennedy Center, you might
Speaker 2: have thought John F. Kennedy must be turning over in
Speaker 2: his grave. Well now he's probably just laughing. And with that,
Speaker 2: welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ, where this
Speaker 2: is hilarious. Trump is still fighting to get his name
Speaker 2: on the Kennedy Center, right, not.
Speaker 1: Trump, it's the board. He has nothing to do with it.
Speaker 1: He can't help it if everyone else wants his name
Speaker 1: on that center. What's a president to do?
Speaker 2: Robes this. I don't know why he's not embarrassed by this.
Speaker 2: This is something that most people would call pathetic.
Speaker 1: Because you have to be able to self reflect and
Speaker 1: be able to actually take an outside perspective and do
Speaker 1: some sort of You have to be willing, uh huh,
Speaker 1: to go outside of your desires and your wants and
Speaker 1: actually look at it from another lens.
Speaker 2: Why does anyone want this? It's the Kennedy Center, Robes.
Speaker 2: You go there and you almost tiptoe, you walk quietly
Speaker 2: because it is a memorial and you do respect what
Speaker 2: it is. He wants his name Wait, excuse me, already
Speaker 2: put it before Kennedy's once before, and it had to
Speaker 2: come down by judge's order. Robes, Why is it important
Speaker 2: for him to have his name on that building?
Speaker 1: I don't know, is my answer, my honest answer. But
Speaker 1: I do know that if he it seems like he
Speaker 1: would be happy if his name was on every building,
Speaker 1: because that's what he does. I mean, just walk around Manhattan.
Speaker 1: His name is everywhere already. So yes, to your point,
Speaker 1: why would he care?
Speaker 2: Robes, national monuments? Okay, you developed the building, name them
Speaker 2: all after you don't care, not yourself out. Every golf
Speaker 2: course called it Trump one, Trump two, Trump three. I
Speaker 2: don't knock yourself out. Those are your private businesses. These
Speaker 2: are established monuments, robes and memorials.
Speaker 1: Because maybe that means that it's forever. I mean this
Speaker 1: now he goes down in US history. It's more than
Speaker 1: just having a real estate zip code where you've got
Speaker 1: a building named after you. That's anybody can do that.
Speaker 1: Anybody can buy that. You can't purchase your name on
Speaker 1: a national monument. You can't purchase your name on a
Speaker 1: fleet of ships.
Speaker 2: He's building the Arc or the Trump Arc de Trump
Speaker 2: or yes, that thing he's building that he's getting the
Speaker 2: whole fleet. His name's everywhere. He got two terms as
Speaker 2: President of the United States. He is the most consequential
Speaker 2: guy maybe in the history of that office, good and bad.
Speaker 1: He even takes pride in the fact that he's so
Speaker 1: important that people keep trying to kill him.
Speaker 2: Yes, we will remember you, sir, Kennedy sent her Why
Speaker 2: why so here we go, folks, the Trump Board. Yes
Speaker 2: it's the Kennedy Center Board, but you get my point.
Speaker 2: That was actually an accident and it was accurate. The
Speaker 2: Kennedy Center Board that is full of Trump appointees, has
Speaker 2: voted to once again add his name to the building roades.
Speaker 2: It's how they've decided they want to go about doing
Speaker 2: it that makes this a hilarious story that I don't
Speaker 2: know why he couldn't be embarrassed by.
Speaker 1: Agreed, and the byeline on the New York Times made
Speaker 1: me laugh. The vote to add restored and renovated by
Speaker 1: President Donald J. Trump is an aggressive test of a
Speaker 1: judge's order to remove his name.
Speaker 2: They went a lot of awards there because that's some
Speaker 2: very creative writing. Because what they're trying to say is,
Speaker 2: y'all ain't gonna believe the shit they trying to pull exactly.
Speaker 2: That's why they work at the New York Times, and
Speaker 2: that's why I'm doing my own podcast. We communicate differently.
Speaker 1: But yes, here's what happened. Yes, there was an hour
Speaker 1: long board meeting. It happened via zoom. This happened on Thursday,
Speaker 1: and the meeting's purpose was to vote on a renovation plan. Right, like,
Speaker 1: this is still up in the air as well. If
Speaker 1: the center can be closed, what the renovation plans are
Speaker 1: going to actually be because Trump certainly has said that
Speaker 1: he couldn't. Didn't They say he couldn't raise the funds
Speaker 1: necessary if his name wasn't on the buildings.
Speaker 2: Who wants to give to the Kennedy Center. But if
Speaker 2: it's the Trump Kennedy Center, sign me up.
Speaker 1: Let me open my wallet. Yes, so that was the argument.
Speaker 1: But okay, so they're voting on a renovation plan. But
Speaker 1: then they also voted on something none of us were expecting.
Speaker 2: Right they said this was a surprise line item, did
Speaker 2: they not? And they brought up adding his name back
Speaker 2: to the building. Now this vote in up twenty to three, overwhelming,
Speaker 2: really robes Obviously they think this is a good idea.
Speaker 1: Obviously it's the will of the people or the board
Speaker 1: that Trump appointed.
Speaker 2: A reminder, yes, he fired fourteen or eighteen folks when
Speaker 2: he first came back, and then put another fourteen plus
Speaker 2: and made himself share of the board of the Kennedy Center.
Speaker 2: So there you go. So they voted to add his name. Robes,
Speaker 2: I can't even believe somebody with a straight face came
Speaker 2: up with this idea.
Speaker 1: Yes, because they found a way to circumvent any potential
Speaker 1: future judge's order to take down the name, because if
Speaker 1: you engrave it into the damn building, you can't take
Speaker 1: it down. How's that for a creative, aggressive idea.
Speaker 2: I can't believe that, Robes, I cannot believe this is happening.
Speaker 2: So the name, the new official name that is going
Speaker 2: to be of this so it won't write it's your
Speaker 2: understanding as well, So it will no longer just be
Speaker 2: the Kennedy Center. It'll be the Kennedy Center, Dad with
Speaker 2: all this stuff, right?
Speaker 1: Correct?
Speaker 2: The official title?
Speaker 1: Correct? All right?
Speaker 2: The official new.
Speaker 1: Title, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,
Speaker 1: restored and renovated by President Donald J. Trump.
Speaker 2: That's not a joke, people, Why just let it go.
Speaker 2: Take the damn tarp down, and let's all move on.
Speaker 1: The fact that the tarp. We haven't gotten into this.
Speaker 1: The tarp is still up. So look, they put a
Speaker 1: tarp up when they were putting his name up, immediately
Speaker 1: took it down Dan Da Da Dam. Within hours of
Speaker 1: the vote. They had his name up on that building
Speaker 1: in front of John F. Kennedy, on top of right
Speaker 1: when he was ordered. When they were ordered to take
Speaker 1: it down, they dragged their feeb. When they finally did,
Speaker 1: they put a tart back up and it's never come
Speaker 1: back down. How long has that tart been up now?
Speaker 2: Early June. I think it was so the world won't
Speaker 2: get a chance to see what I guess he would
Speaker 2: perceive as a humiliation, which is it being restored to
Speaker 2: the Kennedy Center. Are they really trying to push this
Speaker 2: robe to keep that thing there until they can find
Speaker 2: a way to add his name back and then they'll
Speaker 2: take the target. The answer is yes, and that's what
Speaker 2: we're doing.
Speaker 1: Okay, the answer has to be yes. There's no other
Speaker 1: explanation for keeping the tarpaup. This is a weird obsession,
Speaker 1: and like you said, it does read pathetic. And I
Speaker 1: don't know why he can't see that no one around
Speaker 1: him is willing to tell him.
Speaker 2: That restored and why restored and renovated by President Donald J. Trump.
Speaker 1: And that's not it, folks. They're also and they also
Speaker 1: voted to rename the plaza in front of the Kennedy
Speaker 1: Center Trump Plaza.
Speaker 2: I mean, is that wouldn't that be enough? Can we compromise?
Speaker 2: Just okay?
Speaker 1: If fine with that, let him have it.
Speaker 2: It really is like you're trying to satisfy a spoiled child.
Speaker 2: I please, folks, I'm not comparing the president. I'm not
Speaker 2: calling him a child, not name calling here, just the
Speaker 2: recognition of the behavior, how he could be viewed here,
Speaker 2: that you are that it's so important to get his
Speaker 2: name on this memorial to that guy? Does he just
Speaker 2: want to be connected to that legacy? Kennedy is other
Speaker 2: level in terms of how he's revered, robes and he
Speaker 2: was shot and killed in front of the world, right,
Speaker 2: So is that what it is?
Speaker 1: Maybe he feels a kindred spirit to Kennedy because they
Speaker 1: both have been shot at I don't know. I can't
Speaker 1: possibly understand. I'm waiting for the next ball to drop
Speaker 1: where we hear that sixteen hundred Pennsylvania Avenue is going
Speaker 1: to be renamed sixteen hundred Trump Avenue. I mean, seriously,
Speaker 1: that's where we are right now. Didn't laugh at that
Speaker 1: at all, You didn't.
Speaker 2: That was a little scary, because this is I wouldn't
Speaker 2: be surprised if he wrote, if there's graffiti on the
Speaker 2: MLK Memorial in DC right now and he sends the
Speaker 2: Park Service to clean it off. If you told me
Speaker 2: he's changing the name of that to the Trump MLK Memorial,
Speaker 2: I wouldn't flinch.
Speaker 1: I guess at this point we shouldn't flinch, because that's
Speaker 1: everything we're talking about. Is akin to any of those
Speaker 1: other items being added to the list of things he
Speaker 1: would like his name on.
Speaker 2: This one was pretty stunning to me. But this board,
Speaker 2: remember yes, he fired them soon as he got back
Speaker 2: into office, name himself chairman. Now you remember all those ropes.
Speaker 2: After he took over and did a lot of this stuff,
Speaker 2: people started dropping out left and right.
Speaker 1: We had one story after the next, where you know,
Speaker 1: like annual beloved traditions with certain artists who came in
Speaker 1: around the holidays, who opened the doors to the Kennedy
Speaker 1: Center to children and invited them in and exposed them
Speaker 1: to the arts, meaningful, powerful concerts. All of those musicians,
Speaker 1: pretty much all of them canceled and were pained to
Speaker 1: do so, personally, professionally, and even socially, like they knew
Speaker 1: that there was going to be a sacrifice. They actually
Speaker 1: looked at it as that a financial sacrifice and maybe
Speaker 1: even a cultural sacrifice for people because they had to
Speaker 1: take a stand.
Speaker 2: So that's what's been happening at the Kennedy Center Robes
Speaker 2: really for the past year and a half, and it's
Speaker 2: been unfortunate, and I think a lot of people agree
Speaker 2: that it does need is in need of renovations. But
Speaker 2: all of this it didn't help that sales have dropped off.
Speaker 2: They say, subscriptions have dropped off substantially. And it was
Speaker 2: in December that they voted of last year to add
Speaker 2: his name, and already Robes ticket sales and things were down.
Speaker 2: When that happened in December, that's when all those Christmas
Speaker 2: and all those cancelations started happening. Folks refused to come there.
Speaker 2: And then another hit. He took Robes. I forgot about this,
Speaker 2: he insisted on I say, insisted, this is one of
Speaker 2: the things. Right.
Speaker 1: They asked him to what can you say, as the
Speaker 1: people want me to host Kennedy Center Honors, And there
Speaker 1: had never been a president, a sitting president, to host
Speaker 1: the Kennedy Center Honors ever.
Speaker 2: But he put out a statement at the time how
Speaker 2: desperate they were. They asked me because they need viewership.
Speaker 2: They know there'll be huge ratings if I do it.
Speaker 2: It was the lowest ratings in the history of the
Speaker 2: Kennedy Center Honors. Three million watched him do it, and
Speaker 2: that was his first time attending because he skipped it
Speaker 2: all the years that of his first term.
Speaker 1: And that couldn't have felt good to him, could it.
Speaker 1: He can't, like that's his lifeblood, that the ratings. How
Speaker 1: many people showed up on the National Mall during his inauguration.
Speaker 1: He's obsessed with crowds, the whole two hundred and fiftieth celebration,
Speaker 1: in the crowds on the mall, like those were all
Speaker 1: things that are dogging him and driving him nuts when
Speaker 1: they aren't the best, the biggest ever, like this is
Speaker 1: what the highest rated ever? So when you have the opposite,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, that makes him crazy. And then of course
Speaker 1: the judge ordered his name to come down and that
Speaker 1: was removed. We're told on June some photographers have gotten
Speaker 1: a side view to actually show that the name is down,
Speaker 1: but no one's gotten that big front view of his
Speaker 1: name off the center. And that's exactly what they are
Speaker 1: intending to keep that hidden until they can, I guess,
Speaker 1: and we're seeing it play out right now. Exhaust every
Speaker 1: option to get his name back on. I just the
Speaker 1: idea of doing it permanently, engraving it into the building.
Speaker 1: I feel like that feels so disrespectful. It's one thing,
Speaker 1: it's awful enough to put the letters above Kennedy's name
Speaker 1: and have them be the same type of lettering placed
Speaker 1: or affixed on top of the but to engrave it
Speaker 1: into that actually feels more like writing on someone's grave.
Speaker 1: That is like you're engraving that is.
Speaker 2: You're desecraating somebody's memorial. I don't know how that's not comfortable,
Speaker 2: but that's it's bizarre. But stay here. We want you
Speaker 2: to hear there's one congresswoman who has been behind this
Speaker 2: effort to make sure his name came down. She had
Speaker 2: a pretty powerful statement. We'll let you hear what she
Speaker 2: had to say. And also it is important to note
Speaker 2: this Kennedy Center is going to get renovations. We think
Speaker 2: the board did give three options. We'll let you know
Speaker 2: what they are.
Speaker 1: Stay here, Welcome back everyone to Amy and TJ. Can't
Speaker 1: believe we are still talking about Trump's name on the
Speaker 1: Kennedy Center.
Speaker 2: This was over.
Speaker 1: I thought it was over. I mean, it wasn't totally
Speaker 1: over until the tarp comes down. But now we understand
Speaker 1: why the tarp is stayed up because they say.
Speaker 2: They said something.
Speaker 1: I never heard anything that made any sense.
Speaker 2: Something to do with construct. No, it didn't make sense,
Speaker 2: but it was something about construction.
Speaker 1: Okay, it's still up. And now yes, they're trying to
Speaker 1: engrave his damn name on the building itself. And you
Speaker 1: mentioned the congresswoman Democrat from Ohio who was initially on
Speaker 1: the board. Correct, she was on the Kennedy Center board,
Speaker 1: I believe, And so she was one of the dozen
Speaker 1: or so who were fired by Trump and replaced by
Speaker 1: his folks. So, yes, she has made it her personal
Speaker 1: mission to try and stop this from happening. And she's
Speaker 1: the one who filed that original suit to remove his name. Well, she, yes,
Speaker 1: has had something to say about this latest effort by
Speaker 1: the new Trump Trump Board on the Kennedy Center, and
Speaker 1: she had this to say.
Speaker 2: Quote, this latest development is a transparent effort to circumvent
Speaker 2: the court's ruling and flies in the face of the
Speaker 2: statutes that Congress passed. I will continue to fight for
Speaker 2: this treasured national monument ROAs we need to remember that
Speaker 2: that is a very important thing. This is a transparent effort.
Speaker 2: Like these folks ain't hiding a lot of what they
Speaker 2: do ropes. They come out right out and say out loud, yep,
Speaker 2: one point eight billion dollar anti weaponization is going to
Speaker 2: all those people who will climbing that building on January
Speaker 2: sixth that were done wrong. They flat out just they
Speaker 2: come out and say it. This is a transparent effort. Yep,
Speaker 2: we're doing it.
Speaker 1: And I'm just so curious because federal law that governs
Speaker 1: the Kennedy Center is clear, it's not ambiguous, it's not
Speaker 1: up for interpretation. It literally says this, no additional memorials
Speaker 1: or plaques in the nature of memorials shall be designated
Speaker 1: or installed in the public areas. So to say this
Speaker 1: was renovated and restored by President Donald J. Trump that
Speaker 1: falls directly into that law.
Speaker 2: Wait, what do you think the judge's going to do here.
Speaker 1: He's going to say, y'all are hilarious.
Speaker 2: He might he might actually say that that this is
Speaker 2: just funny. So a judge does have to sign off
Speaker 2: on that plan. A judge, it's going to have to
Speaker 2: sign off. They're still not sure exactly what they're going
Speaker 2: to do, but it does need renovations. They've offered up
Speaker 2: plans that would close it all down for two years,
Speaker 2: another plan would close it partially, and then another plan
Speaker 2: would close it in phases over time. Again, judge has
Speaker 2: to sign off on all this stuff. But the name
Speaker 2: thing I don't know roes even if it did get
Speaker 2: engraved when a Democrat gets in office or Democrats get into.
Speaker 1: Cong blast it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they probably are, but we shouldn't be doing that either. Somebody, Yes,
Speaker 2: that's exactly what would happen.
Speaker 1: I cannot look. I will we will wait and see
Speaker 1: what this judge rules. But he's already made it clear
Speaker 1: how he feels. So I guess I don't understand why
Speaker 1: they would put themselves in a position to be publicly
Speaker 1: slapped down by the same judge, Like there's no question
Speaker 1: as to what this judge is going to say or do.
Speaker 2: Why baby are they being told they have to do
Speaker 2: something to get his name on there, or do they
Speaker 2: feel like we better do this because we want to
Speaker 2: make Daddy happy. Are they getting direct instruction do you
Speaker 2: think or they are just doing this because they do
Speaker 2: want to make Daddy happy.
Speaker 1: It could be one or both.
Speaker 2: But bro is this the way he would have to
Speaker 2: sign off on that? Because that is that's not a
Speaker 2: good look. Broh.
Speaker 1: It's not him, it's people who just love him and
Speaker 1: want to honor him.
Speaker 2: He can say, guys, let's not do that. Of course
Speaker 2: he can say that as well.
Speaker 1: Of course he can clearly he has not.
Speaker 2: All right, well, folks, it ain't over yet.
Speaker 1: We appreciate you. Listen.
Speaker 2: I'm t J, I'm behalf of my dear Amy Robick.
Speaker 2: We'll talk to you allston
Speaker 1: H