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PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: Actors from a Kennedy Center production of Les Misérables threatened to boycott a performance attended by President Donald J. Trump.
👥 Who’s Involved: The cast of Les Misérables, Kennedy Center President Ric Grenell, President Trump, and celebrities like Lin-Manuel Miranda.
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📍 Where & When: The Kennedy Center, Washington D.C., June 11.
💬 Key Quote: “The Kennedy Center will no longer fund this intolerance,” stated Ric Grenell.
⚠️ Impact: The Kennedy Center faces controversy over political affiliations and the potential impact on future performances and funding.
IN FULL:
A brewing controversy at the Kennedy Center has emerged as a significant number of actors from the touring company of Les Misérables have expressed their intent to boycott a performance scheduled for June 11, which President Donald J. Trump plans to attend. In response to a report by CNN, Kennedy Center President Ric Grenell issued a firm statement rejecting what he described as “intolerance.”
Grenell emphasized that the Kennedy Center would not support any form of intolerance, stating, “We haven’t heard this rumor, but the Kennedy Center will no longer fund this intolerance.” He further asserted that performers unwilling to entertain patrons regardless of political beliefs would not be welcome, suggesting that such behavior should be publicly acknowledged to inform future hiring decisions.
The Kennedy Center, under the Trump administration, has experienced efforts to revamp its operations, including the firing of the board of directors shortly after Trump took office. Some liberal figures, such as Lin-Manuel Miranda, have distanced themselves from the venue, with Miranda canceling a performance of Hamilton and criticizing what he referred to as the “Trump Kennedy Center.”
Grenell has dismissed such actions as mere “publicity stunts” that he believes will ultimately backfire. He maintained that the arts should be accessible to everyone, not just those who align with specific political views.
PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, elected as the first American pope, previously criticized President Donald J. Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance’s stance on immigration.
👥 Who’s Involved: Pope Leo XIV, President Trump, Vice President Vance, and the late Pope Francis.
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📍 Where & When: Vatican City, with the election confirmed on May 8, 2025.
⚠️ Impact: Pope Leo XIV’s election is a point of national pride for the U.S., but, despite President Trump’s gracious response to his election, the pontiff’s past critiques of America First policies suggest he may attempt to undermine the Trump administration.
IN FULL:
Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV previously criticized President Donald J. Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance on immigration, sharing articles on X (formerly Twitter) calling the America First leader’s “rhetoric” on immigration “problematic” and criticizing his vice president’s stance on a Christian’s ties of obligation to his country and family.
The newly elected pontiff, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, has a repost of an X user criticizing President Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele for the deportation of alleged gang member, domestic abuser, and human trafficker Kilmar Abrego Garcia at the top of his timeline.
In 2015, he shared an article by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, titled ‘Why Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric is so problematic.’
More recently, he used the @drprevost account to amplify criticism of Vice President J.D. Vance. He shared two articles attacking Vance, who was responding to the late Pope Francis’s thinly veiled criticism of Trump’s mass deportation policy, for saying that it is in line with Church teaching that “you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world.”
Vance, a Catholic convert, cited the doctrine of ordo amoris, Latin for “order of love,” first outlined by the great 4th–5th-century theologian St. Augustine, angering liberal clergy—apparently including the future Pope Leo XIV—who were pushing the line that illegal immigrants should be given the same consideration as relatives and fellow citizens.
Nevertheless, President Trump has welcomed the new pontiff’s election, writing on his Truth Social platform, writing, “Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope. It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”
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