Speaker 1: Hey, there are folks. It is Friday, December nineteenth, twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five. It is the Kennedy Center. No more. Next
Speaker 1: time you're in DC, take a swing by the Donald J.
Speaker 1: Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the
Speaker 1: Performing Arts Center. With that, welcome to this episode of
Speaker 1: Amy and TJ. Just tell me how you felt seeing
Speaker 1: construction workers putting Donald J. Trump's name in front of
Speaker 1: JFK's on this memorial center.
Speaker 2: I have to tell you, I felt sick to my stomach,
Speaker 2: and then I saw the finished product and it just
Speaker 2: made me feel really uneasy. It feels wrong, it feels disgusting,
Speaker 2: it feels indulgent. I don't like it.
Speaker 1: And it also might be illegal. We'll explain that in
Speaker 1: a second. But folks, this has been a story and
Speaker 1: a lot of you been following, and President Trump hasn't
Speaker 1: been shy about trying to no, not wink wink, like
Speaker 1: he's joking that he wants his name on it. But
Speaker 1: yes yesterday the board that he put in place of
Speaker 1: the Kennedy Center, the board of which he is the chairman,
Speaker 1: voted unanimously. This was yesterday. I actually was trying to
Speaker 1: check myself this just happened. They voted yesterday to change
Speaker 1: the name of the center.
Speaker 2: Yes, and now one day later, on Friday, his name
Speaker 2: is up on the Kennedy Center.
Speaker 1: And I'm not great that you can't.
Speaker 2: I just called it the wrong name. My apologies.
Speaker 1: No, you got it right. There's no way they could
Speaker 1: have done this. This was planned way ahead.
Speaker 2: Clearly, he had the letters, the metal letters already ready
Speaker 2: to go. You would have had to have ordered that.
Speaker 2: I mean, I know how long it takes to get
Speaker 2: anything custom I know, he's the president of the United States.
Speaker 2: But he was planning for this. He knew exactly how
Speaker 2: the board was going to vote, because he put the
Speaker 2: board in place.
Speaker 1: And look, folks, yes, So that vote was just just
Speaker 1: yesterday and today they showed up some construction workers did
Speaker 1: and began work on it and robes. It took only
Speaker 1: a matter of hours. But as they were doing this,
Speaker 1: they had some coverings up, some blue some tarps or something.
Speaker 1: They kind of covered a lot of the work from
Speaker 1: what I was seeing as they were doing it. But
Speaker 1: it took a matter of hours. And his name is
Speaker 1: in front of JFK's on top of it. It's it's
Speaker 1: in front of John F.
Speaker 2: Kennedy's name, and there's a lot of reaction to that,
Speaker 2: specifically from the Kennedy family. But I know a lot
Speaker 2: of people feel a certain way, but we are hearing
Speaker 2: from the Kennedy's about what has taken place.
Speaker 1: That's that's actually the when we saw that again, Maria
Speaker 1: Shriver jfk her uncle, the reason we ended up saying, wait,
Speaker 1: you know what, let's hop on because we saw her
Speaker 1: statement and yeah, it was I es I struggled to
Speaker 1: find people who support it, who will publicly come out
Speaker 1: and say, yeah, this was the right thing to do.
Speaker 1: I struggled to fine. I would love for somebody to
Speaker 1: explain that to me, but I struggle to I'm trying
Speaker 1: to find lotche and I can't. And I don't want
Speaker 1: to just bash and everybody who's bashing this guy for
Speaker 1: a whole bunch of stuff he's done. This is over
Speaker 1: the top, it's gross, this is over the and it's
Speaker 1: I don't know how much more we we stomach. We're
Speaker 1: scared of them, all of us in the country. Nobody will,
Speaker 1: the media is can' He's gonna sue, He's gonna win.
Speaker 1: It's too much of a headache and nobody will speak
Speaker 1: the Republicans won't speak up and challenge him in a
Speaker 1: significant way. Who can now lead us through this thing
Speaker 1: to where this imagine? I want to call it the
Speaker 1: Obama Lincoln Memorial imagine because I didn't realize I said
Speaker 1: this to you. Yes, I've been to the Kennedy Center.
Speaker 1: I know the Kennedy Center. We all know the Kennedy
Speaker 1: Center for the Performing Arts. The Kennedy Center is actually
Speaker 1: the equivalent of.
Speaker 2: The Lincoln Memorial.
Speaker 1: It is by law designated as the only memorial within
Speaker 1: Washington d C Allowed for John F. Kennedy. It is
Speaker 1: specifically a memorial to this one man.
Speaker 2: It's like the Jefferson Memorial. It is akin to that.
Speaker 2: Think about that they're on the title basin. It's the
Speaker 2: same exact designation. So can you imagine if suddenly it's
Speaker 2: the Trump Jefferson Memorial. I mean, where does this end?
Speaker 2: Or are we just going to do it to democrats
Speaker 2: or people who he believes he should be in front of.
Speaker 1: And you give you credit here. You brought this home
Speaker 1: as you often do, in a way that I was like, wow,
Speaker 1: that's it. What just took place was you're almost desecrating
Speaker 1: someone's memorial, their burial place. You compared it to a tombstone.
Speaker 2: I said, it was like writing your name on someone
Speaker 2: else's tombstone. That's what it feels like to me. It
Speaker 2: feels so wrong. And look as if Trump's name isn't
Speaker 2: everywhere already, we really now have to put it in
Speaker 2: in front of on top of a memorial designated four
Speaker 2: and two another president.
Speaker 1: And again certainly there's folklore around this guy. Yeah. I'm
Speaker 1: not going to debate and don't know it well enough
Speaker 1: to debate John F. Kennedy's legacy in terms of policies,
Speaker 1: but I understand and understand the legacy of what he
Speaker 1: inspired in this country. We all have our in agreement
Speaker 1: about the greatness of Kennedy, not family, don't let's just
Speaker 1: talk about jfk right, right, there's a general understanding of
Speaker 1: his legacy general. Yes, Yes, he was a flawed man
Speaker 1: like everybody else.
Speaker 2: Ask not yes, what your country can do for you,
Speaker 2: Ask what you can do for your country? Yes, think
Speaker 2: about the orator that he was, and we actually had
Speaker 2: to look it up just two years in office, and
Speaker 2: the impact he left. And I know when people obviously
Speaker 2: are assassinated, they are glorified in many ways and perhaps
Speaker 2: remembered more than those who are not. But in is
Speaker 2: two years in office, his was a presidency of service,
Speaker 2: of helping each other, uniting one another. He had some
Speaker 2: first he was the first Catholic. You know, he suffered losses,
Speaker 2: you know it, he he actually he was just such
Speaker 2: a huge part of our country during those times. And
Speaker 2: to think that now Donald Trump is putting his name
Speaker 2: on top of his it feels sacrilegious. I mean, is
Speaker 2: that going too far? I don't know, but that's how
Speaker 2: it feels. That's the best way to describe it.
Speaker 1: There's so much that's taking place, and people shake their
Speaker 1: heads being disappointed in some of the things Trump has
Speaker 1: done in terms of behavior, but also in terms of policy.
Speaker 1: You can take all kinds of issues. Where is the
Speaker 1: line that anybody will draw that he's gone too far?
Speaker 1: And we all collectively need to look at it and say, no,
Speaker 1: that's enough. Aware is that in line? I just don't
Speaker 1: know how big I don't care how big of a
Speaker 1: fan you are of Donald Trump, and we want to
Speaker 1: vote for him for a third and fourth term. Would
Speaker 1: you still look at this and say this is proper
Speaker 1: and this is okay, and this is who we are
Speaker 1: and this is what should take place. I don't I'm struggling.
Speaker 1: You cannot justify this.
Speaker 2: These are the actions of what I feel like. I
Speaker 2: studied about other countries, dictators dictatorships where they put their
Speaker 2: faces everywhere, put their names everywhere. It's so eerily similar
Speaker 2: to that. It's frightening to me.
Speaker 1: And it's tough. You don't want to make those types
Speaker 1: of comparisons. But the only ones we have are from
Speaker 1: other places, from things we've studied in history over time,
Speaker 1: something like this military being sent into the streets to
Speaker 1: beat down protesters in cities where your opposition is in power.
Speaker 1: That's not something we see here, But I've heard about that.
Speaker 1: I've heard about tanks rolling through streets for parades and
Speaker 1: display nevn haven't heard about it here. I've heard about
Speaker 1: some other places putting your name everywhere, putting your image
Speaker 1: and your likeness all over. Don't know about it here,
Speaker 1: but I've heard about that stuff before. Rose this when
Speaker 1: do we finally say no?
Speaker 2: It's scary? And then I've heard about other countries not
Speaker 2: allowing certain members of the press who weren't favorably talking
Speaker 2: about them into and have access to the leadership of
Speaker 2: our country. That doesn't happen here. No, that would never
Speaker 2: happen at the Pentagon. That would never happen in the
Speaker 2: Oval Office, where another leader, another dictator from another country,
Speaker 2: would prohibit the free press from covering them. That's happening
Speaker 2: here in this country.
Speaker 1: We're not talking politics at all here. This is basic decency.
Speaker 3: This is the basic respect you could give to somebody
Speaker 3: who meant something to so many and who died in
Speaker 3: front of all of us.
Speaker 1: This is a weird one. But Maria Shriver, and again
Speaker 1: she was the one. We saw her statement, and I
Speaker 1: guess Robes, we certainly need to read this in full
Speaker 1: because I just I was very impressed with it, and
Speaker 1: to the point that I said, hey, we should hop
Speaker 1: on this is a very important story today.
Speaker 2: She was amazing. So this was Maria Schrever's statement. The
Speaker 2: Kennedy Center was named after my uncle, President John F. Kennedy.
Speaker 2: It was named in his honor. He was a man
Speaker 2: who was interested in the arts, interested in culture, interested
Speaker 2: in education, language history. He brought the arts into the
Speaker 2: White House, and he and my aunt Jackie amplified the arts,
Speaker 2: celebrated the arts, stood up for the arts and artists.
Speaker 2: It is beyond comprehension that this sitting has sought to
Speaker 2: rename this great memorial dedicated to President Kennedy. It is
Speaker 2: beyond wild that he would think adding his name in
Speaker 2: front of President Kennedy's name is acceptable. It is not
Speaker 2: next thing. Perhaps he will want to rename JFK. Airport,
Speaker 2: rename the Lincoln Memorial, the Trump Lincoln Memorial, the Trump
Speaker 2: Jefferson Memorial, the Trump Smithsonian. The list goes on. Can
Speaker 2: we not see what is happening here? Come on, my
Speaker 2: fellow Americans, wake up. This is not dignified, This is
Speaker 2: not funny. This is way beneath the stature of the job.
Speaker 2: It's downright weird. It's obsessive in a weird way. Just
Speaker 2: when you think someone can't stoop any lower down, they go.
Speaker 1: Obsessive, she said, weird and obsessive in a weird way.
Speaker 1: If you had anybody in your circle that behaved in
Speaker 1: some of these ways, you would be concerned about them.
Speaker 1: You would you would not like them, and you would
Speaker 1: find it odd that these things are happening. Those plaques
Speaker 1: that went up at the White House insulting, These are
Speaker 1: plaques that were ordered, and these things are not normal.
Speaker 1: And I'm sorry, this is not ever politics. You all
Speaker 1: to anybody playing folks who voted for him might be listening.
Speaker 1: And I just wonder, how on this one, let's just
Speaker 1: stick with this one, how you would go, yes, this
Speaker 1: should happen, and I believe it should fill that out
Speaker 1: for me. I haven't seen it anywhere.
Speaker 2: I haven't heard anyone give any genuine explanation or defense
Speaker 2: as to why this would be appropriate, why this would
Speaker 2: be actually good for this country. It serves no one
Speaker 2: but Trump himself, it serves no one else.
Speaker 1: And as stunning as it was, I was sitting here
Speaker 1: with you, and I kept screaming across the table, like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, it's getting worse. Oh my god, it's
Speaker 1: getting worse. Because you look into the history of the
Speaker 1: Kennedy Center and you go, oh, damn, this is what's
Speaker 1: happening to this place. Nineteen fifty five. You have to
Speaker 1: go to Eisenhower at the time established a commission because
Speaker 1: they wanted a national cultural stage, if you will, in
Speaker 1: the Capitol signed a bill in fifty eight establishing the
Speaker 1: Natural Cultural Center. JFK gets in the office in the
Speaker 1: nineteen sixty two, he leads this big thirty million dollar
Speaker 1: fundraising campaign with Yes Jackie, who was a co chair
Speaker 1: at the time of that, in raising money. Now he
Speaker 1: died nineteen sixty three. A couple of months after that,
Speaker 1: Congress dedicated the thing to him in law. They dedicated
Speaker 1: it to him now Rose, I said, this keeps getting
Speaker 1: worse because I was looking through at the top of
Speaker 1: it speaks to this man, it speaks to JFK, saying,
Speaker 1: whereas JFK served with distinction as President of the United States,
Speaker 1: whereaf JFK dedicated his life to the advancement of the
Speaker 1: welfare of mankind, whereas JFK devoted to the advancement of arts.
Speaker 1: Ultimately his death of the nation and world suffered a
Speaker 1: great loss. They set this up, Congress, and you're starting
Speaker 1: to listen and read to at the time at least
Speaker 1: what they thought this should be, which is a memorial,
Speaker 1: and you are not. It is the only one by
Speaker 1: law that's permitted in Washington, DC. Is it his anymore?
Speaker 2: No? Donald J. Trump has now stolen it. He absolutely has.
Speaker 1: Stolen a cultural arts center. You've been you've lived in DC.
Speaker 1: I assume you've been there plenty times over the years.
Speaker 1: When you look at it, it's it's not that impressive
Speaker 1: of a looking building.
Speaker 2: It's got a very plain facade. It's total nineteen sixties architecture,
Speaker 2: kind of a Frank Lloyd Wright minimalist, blend into the
Speaker 2: background type of center. But I remember always because I
Speaker 2: would when I lived in Alexandria and I worked in DC.
Speaker 2: I would always be going over the Memorial Bridge and
Speaker 2: I would see the I would see the Smithsonian Center
Speaker 2: at Christmas time. There's a big red bow that's wrapped
Speaker 2: around it and around the Kennedy Center. Excuse me, And yeah,
Speaker 2: it's just a huge part of DC. It's a huge
Speaker 2: part of It's the cultural center of the nation's capital.
Speaker 2: It's the heart of the capitol. I was so unimpressed
Speaker 2: when I saw it, Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: And then you get chills when you walk in and
Speaker 1: you realize where you are and what has happened in
Speaker 1: this place. Random is hell. The only time I've been
Speaker 1: there was to interview Fantasia because she was doing the
Speaker 1: color purple.
Speaker 2: That's funny.
Speaker 1: That's my memory of the Kennedy Center. And I remember
Speaker 1: being on the stage and just getting those chills we
Speaker 1: speak about, like wow, this is cool to be in
Speaker 1: this place dedicated to this guy. And it was and
Speaker 1: it's gone. But here's the thing. As much as we're
Speaker 1: talking about and people are talking about this, there is
Speaker 1: a very good reason why the official new name ain't
Speaker 1: official at all. There are plenty of people who will
Speaker 1: tell you this is an illegal move and doesn't matter
Speaker 1: what you put on the front of the building. The
Speaker 1: name has not changed. We'll explain. Stay here, all right, folks,
Speaker 1: We continue here on the Trump, Amy and TJ Show,
Speaker 1: because this is the thing now. It's going everywhere. Wow,
Speaker 1: put the name on anything, slap it on anything.
Speaker 2: I mean he has though as a businessman, okay, you
Speaker 2: own the building, you can put Trump wherever you want,
Speaker 2: and he has. That's kind of been his signature.
Speaker 1: We walked by one on Wall Street almost every day.
Speaker 2: We see his name on buildings every day here in Manhattan. Yes,
Speaker 2: but those are your buildings and that's your brand, and
Speaker 2: it's just it's look. I have to say again, this
Speaker 2: isn't about politics, isn't about being a Republican or a Democrat.
Speaker 2: This this has been such a bizarre experience to watch
Speaker 2: him act and conduct himself so non presidential. It is
Speaker 2: unpresidential to take a State of the Union or an
Speaker 2: address to the nation and be radically partisan and start
Speaker 2: blaming your predecessors for all the problems you've inherited. When
Speaker 2: you are there as the president of the United.
Speaker 1: States, some speech knock yourself out in the campaign, Trioll No.
Speaker 2: Just saw that this week, and then you have him
Speaker 2: now putting his name on top of a memorial to
Speaker 2: one of the greatest presidents. I think a lot of
Speaker 2: people would say this country has ever seen or witnessed,
Speaker 2: certainly in this century, in a century. But it's remarkable.
Speaker 2: Where does it end? What I do wonder what Maria
Speaker 2: Shriver suggested, Where does it and what happens next? This
Speaker 2: isn't going to stop. We haven't even circled a full
Speaker 2: year with President Trump at office yet.
Speaker 1: Wow, you put it that way. It hasn't been a year.
Speaker 2: It has not been a year a year yet, and
Speaker 2: he's getting away with everything.
Speaker 1: You know. I don't know what needs to happen. I
Speaker 1: don't know who can step up and be the challenge.
Speaker 1: I don't know someone that we all universally trust enough
Speaker 1: to be that figure. Because everything is politics and everybody
Speaker 1: is political, and we can do we we look up
Speaker 1: to anyone? Are we guided by anyone? Like just generally
Speaker 1: that we will listen to and look up to.
Speaker 2: And when you say we, you mean both side Americans.
Speaker 1: See even see? Is that crazy? That's how we think
Speaker 1: of ourselves as Americans? Now, yes, side, that's red glue.
Speaker 2: Yes, I know it is awful. I agree.
Speaker 1: Well, folks, this legal experts are telling us this is no.
Speaker 1: The name hasn't changed, even though there's a new name
Speaker 1: in the front. And I wonder if they care, right
Speaker 1: are they trying to go through a legal process, but
Speaker 1: the legislation is written in such a way that it
Speaker 1: has to be referred to always as the Kennedy Center
Speaker 1: for the Performing Arts.
Speaker 2: Well, I wonder how much this is similar to the
Speaker 2: Gulf of America versus the Golf of Mexico. You know,
Speaker 2: you can change the name on maps, but people are
Speaker 2: still going to say the Golf of Mexico. They're still
Speaker 2: going to consider it the Golf of Mexico, regardless of
Speaker 2: what you might put out on certain maps. And I
Speaker 2: was just reminding me of that.
Speaker 1: I would laugh if he'd have gone if he'd gone
Speaker 1: through and done this in official channels, if he wanted
Speaker 1: to go to Congress and say, hey, I want my
Speaker 1: name on that center, and I know we need to
Speaker 1: change the law. So I'm trying to ramp up support
Speaker 1: here in Congress to get this thing changed. If he'd
Speaker 1: have gone about, we'd laughed, we said no way in hell,
Speaker 1: and we say, wow, I wonder if any Republicans are
Speaker 1: going to vote. That's what we'd have said. But to
Speaker 1: do this is particularly insulting. Yeah, just he might as
Speaker 1: well going out with a black marker and just graffiti
Speaker 1: the thing. This is almost the equivalent.
Speaker 2: And the fact that he had it waiting. Think about
Speaker 2: that they only voted yesterday. There was absolutely zero chance
Speaker 2: that the perfect size and font and big huge metal
Speaker 2: matching my letters that spell out his name. Yes, that
Speaker 2: match the John F. Kennedy name. There's how far in
Speaker 2: advance did he have those made?
Speaker 1: I don't know. Hobby Lobby probably had those laying around right.
Speaker 2: This was probably months in the making. He knew he
Speaker 2: was going, he was ready, He had a complete construction
Speaker 2: team ready to go.
Speaker 1: They knew that. They knew this assignment like two weeks.
Speaker 2: Yes, they were hired. I'm going with months ago.
Speaker 1: Oh, folks, I don't even know why I'm laughing. This
Speaker 1: ain't funny in the least bit, just hopping on and
Speaker 1: again if you get a chance. I thought Maria Shreiver's
Speaker 1: statement was well done today without being so partisan his
Speaker 1: own way. You can't just attack. This is a family member,
Speaker 1: and this is a hallowed, sacred place. This is a place.
Speaker 1: If folks go to DC for vacation, what are the
Speaker 1: things they would take off their list? They would go
Speaker 1: by the Capitol of the White House and Lincoln Memorial,
Speaker 1: though Jefferson Memorial, right, probably maybe the Okay, yes, the
Speaker 1: Kenity centers on the list.
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Speaker 1: It's a memorial to a president, and today another president
Speaker 1: decided to put his name in front of it. Folks,
Speaker 1: wherever you may be tonight, I hope you are doing well.
Speaker 1: Hope your Christmas shopping is going well as well well
Speaker 1: shopping it should be done by now.
Speaker 2: It should be, but it isn't always all right.
Speaker 1: Folks, wherever you may be, we always appreciate you spend
Speaker 1: some time with us. For my dear Amy Robot, I'm TJ. Holmes,
Speaker 1: talk to you also,