President Joe Biden said artists are “as important as ever” in pre-recorded remarks played during Sunday’s Kennedy Center Honors.
Biden, who met with this year’s honorees last month at the White House, promoted the power of the arts, a stark departure from his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, who in 2017 endeavored to slash the Kennedy Center’s funding.
“We look forward to working with the art and cultural organizations in the big cities, small towns and rural communities, to make art more accessible to people at every age and every background, to lift up more voices and stories, to remember what President Kennedy believed, that in serving their vision of the truth, artists best serve the nation,” he said, adding he and first lady Jill Biden “will continue to celebrate the critical role artists play in our nation.”
Joan Baez, Midori, Garth Brooks, Debbie Allen, and Dick Van Dyke were all honored during the ceremony, which was delayed from its usual December date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event’s organizers implemented health precautions, including limiting audience size and socially distancing attendees.
The honorees all brandished rainbow ribbons symbolizing the range and versatility of skills in the field of performing arts.
Toward the beginning of his presidency, Trump, who did not participate in the Kennedy Center Awards, reportedly supported cuts to the performing arts center’s budget, but the former president then supported funding the center while it was struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Kennedy Center has suffered greatly because nobody can go there. It’s essentially closed,” Trump said. The Kennedy Center is a federally funded performance theater that puts on musicals, orchestras, and other live performances.
“That was a Democrat request. That was not my request,” Trump added. “But you got to give them something.”
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The Senate ultimately included a provision allocating $25 million to the Kennedy Center in its March 2020 coronavirus relief package, though some in the House questioned the reasoning behind Trump’s endorsement of the measure, with Rep. Tim Ryan speculating the then-president’s support stemmed from his wife’s position as an honorary member of the board of directors.
“Well, if you want to talk about the Kennedy Center, you should talk to the president about that one. Melania Trump sits on the board, and I think that had a little something to do with the Kennedy Center maybe getting a little bit of money,” Ryan stated after Fox’s Maria Bartiromo alleged some of his Democratic colleagues had been “playing around” with the legislation to score additional wins, specifically noting the Kennedy Center relief.
