JD Vance & his wife attended a Kennedy Center performance. The audience booed

Vice President JD Vance’s arrival at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., on Thursday night was anything but warm. Instead of applause, the audience at the National Symphony Orchestra concert erupted into loud boos, sending a clear message of defiance amid the ongoing turmoil surrounding President Donald Trump’s hostile takeover of the institution.

For nearly a minute, jeers and shouts filled the concert hall as Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, recently appointed to the Kennedy Center board by Trump, took their seats. In video footage circulating on social media, Vance smiles awkwardly, raising his hand in a half-hearted wave before sipping his drink.

The public rebuke comes at a moment of unprecedented upheaval at the Kennedy Center, a cultural landmark that has been thrown into political chaos after Trump abruptly fired its board of trustees, installed himself as chairman, and vowed to reshape its programming to fit his far-right vision.

A cultural institution under attack

Since its founding as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, the Kennedy Center has been a home for the performing arts, fostering diverse and inclusive programming. But in Trump’s second term, it has become a battleground in his ongoing war on “wokeness.”

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Declaring that the arts institution had been overtaken by “anti-American propaganda,” Trump wiped out the existing board and tapped his special envoy Richard Grenell—a gay MAGA loyalist with no experience in arts administration—as its new interim head. Within days, LGBTQ+ programming began disappearing. The Kennedy Center quietly canceled a WorldPride concert featuring the National Symphony Orchestra, pulled a planned performance by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C., and scrapped a Pride Month celebration.

Related: Trump taps gay MAGA loyalist Ric Grenell as interim head of Kennedy Center

Trump has been explicit about his intentions. “NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA—ONLY THE BEST,” he declared on Truth Social, justifying his power grab.

The move sparked outrage, prompting hundreds of activists, drag artists, and allies to march on the Kennedy Center last weekend. Organized by the DMV Social Activist Collective and Qommittee, the “March for Drag” called for the reinstatement of queer programming and condemned the administration’s broader attacks on LGBTQ+ rights.

Resisting Trump’s cultural purge

Artists and cultural leaders have wasted pushed back. Within weeks of Trump’s takeover, high-profile figures, including Issa Rae and Shonda Rhimes, pulled out of planned appearances at the Kennedy Center in protest. The musicians of the National Symphony Orchestra, one of the center’s flagship ensembles, have authorized a strike, citing concerns over artistic freedom and censorship under the new regime. Producers for the hit musical Hamilton pulled the show from the 2026 calendar.

And while Trump and his allies attempt to rebrand the Kennedy Center in their image, the LGBTQ+ community is making it clear they will not go quietly.

Related: Hundreds of drag queens, activists & LGBTQ+ allies converge on Kennedy Center to protest Trump’s takeover

“D.C. has been known for years as the gayest city per capita in the country. That’s not going to change by June,” Capital Pride Alliance Executive Director Ryan A. Bos previously told The Advocate, referring to the upcoming WorldPride 2025 events in the nation’s capital from May 17 until June 8. “This is a moment for us to reaffirm our place and remind the world that we will not be erased.”

Trump’s strange relationship with the Kennedy Center

Despite his aggressive push to control the Kennedy Center, Trump himself has rarely set foot inside it. During his first term, he notably skipped the annual Kennedy Center Honors from 2017 to 2019, making him the first president to avoid the prestigious event altogether.

The one exception came in July 2017, when Trump appeared at the Kennedy Center for an event honoring veterans, but The Dallas Morning News reported that event was more akin to one of his campaign rallies than a celebration of the arts.

More recently, Trump admitted that he had never attended a single performance at the Kennedy Center before taking control of its leadership. He dismissed it outright when asked about its programming, saying, “I get reports they were so bad … I didn’t want to go. There was nothing I wanted to see,” according to a White House pool report.

Yet, he now presides over the very institution he once ignored.

A stark contrast to Kamala Harris’s warm Broadway welcome

The Kennedy Center audience’s rejection of Vance stands in stark contrast to the reception that former Vice President Kamala Harris received at a Broadway theater in New York City recently. When Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, arrived at the Gypsy revival starring Audra McDonald, the audience immediately erupted into cheers and a standing ovation, chanting “Ka-ma-la” until the orchestra began playing the overture.

Harris and Emhoff received a hero’s welcome and were invited backstage after the show, where they met the cast, including McDonald and Danny Burstein. Video of their departure from the theater shows a large crowd delighted to see Harris as she and Emhoff got into their SUV.