The View’s co-hosts dished various criticisms toward the Kennedy Center’s recent rebrand honoring President Donald Trump, with one saying the change is “out of touch” with what the president campaigned on in 2024.
Multiple artists and performers have canceled their performances after the arts center changed its name to “the Trump-Kennedy Center” last month, a change approved “unanimously” by its board. While some co-hosts were critical of connecting the Kennedy Center to the sitting president, co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin, who worked for Trump’s administration in his first term, suggested the move runs counter to Trump’s bid to “drain the swamp.”
“I can’t think of something more elite than being like, ‘I’m adding my name to the Kennedy Center, and I’m going to host the Kennedy Center Honors.’ It just feels so out of touch at a moment when everyone’s talking about affordability coming off of the holidays. Like, no one voted for this,” Griffin said on The View Monday.
Both political parties are aiming to focus on the topic of affordability ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Sunday that lowering the cost of living will be his party’s “No. 1 focus.” Trump, meanwhile, said last month that the midterm elections will be “about pricing,” seemingly reversing his previous stance that affordability is a “dead” issue.
The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg also criticized the Kennedy Center’s rebrand, joking that she should add her own name to it. Co-host Sara Haines said the name change can be “knocked off” once a new administration enters the White House, adding that it is “petty” to add one’s name before Kennedy.
Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell suggested the center’s cancellations are proof its previous leadership was “more concerned about booking far left political activists” over artists willing to perform for everyone. He added that anyone “boycotting the Arts to show you support the Arts is a form of derangement syndrome.”
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The performing arts center is pursuing $1 million in damages against musician Chuck Redd after he declined to perform following the name change. Redd had performed at the Kennedy Center annually since 2006 before canceling his latest concert due to the rebrand.
The Washington Examiner contacted the Kennedy Center for comment.
