❓WHAT HAPPENED: Journalist Katie Couric drew backlash after attacking the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where President Donald J. Trump has assumed control as chairman and restructured leadership and programming in collaboration with Richard “Ric” Grenell, as a “disgrace” on social media. Bizarrely, the 68-year-old focused her ire on an Instagram post shared by the Kennedy Center featuring several smiling young staffers.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Katie Couric, President Trump, Kennedy Center President and Executive Director Ric Grenell, and The National Pulse Editor-in-Chief Raheem Kassam.
📍WHEN & WHERE: August 2025, Washington, D.C., at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
💬KEY QUOTE: “We didn’t cancel a single show. Your team couldn’t perform for Republicans. They cancelled. It is this exact intolerance that we fight against. Everyone is welcome to the Kennedy Center… Even you!” – Ric Grenell
🎯IMPACT: Trump’s restructuring has sparked controversy, with legislation proposed to rename parts of the Kennedy Center in his honor.
Journalist Katie Couric has attacked the Kennedy Center, where President Donald J. Trump has assumed control as chairman, as a “disgrace” on social media. Couric, 68, focused her bizarre outburst on an Instagram post featuring smiling young staffers at the Kennedy Center’s “Opera in the Outfield” event, saying, “This is so sad. I grew up going to the Kennedy Center… What they’ve done to it is a disgrace.”
Richard “Ric” Grenell, acting president and executive director of the Kennedy Center, responded directly: “We didn’t cancel a single show. Your team couldn’t perform for Republicans. They cancelled. It is this exact intolerance that we fight against.” He added, “Everyone is welcome to the Kennedy Center… even you!”
The National Pulse Editor-in-Chief Raheem Kassam, who attended the “Opera in the Outfield” event, also responded to Couric, saying, “It’s a disgrace that you’re trying to hurt this institution now, simply because you have different political ideas from the people running it. It reveals your wafer-thin concern for the arts, and your petulance and disdain for the will of the people.”
Thanks to @RichardGrenell, @romadaravi, and the @kencen team for inviting me to see Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., this weekend.
Yes, I’ve decided to start vlogging the more fun parts of my life. Enjoy! pic.twitter.com/ZMrSvODeGO
— Raheem J. Kassam (@RaheemKassam) August 24, 2025
Notably, the Kennedy Center had been struggling under the Biden government, which Trump attributed to infiltration by “woke” ideologues pushing ideological programming. Under the leadership of the America First leader and Grenell, it has put on many highly successful events, with Trump promising major renovations to bring it “back to the absolute TOP LEVEL of luxury, glamour, and entertainment.”
Congressional allies of Trump have introduced legislation to rename parts of the Kennedy Center. One proposal seeks to name the Opera House after First Lady Melania Trump, while another, the “Make Entertainment Great Again Act,” aims to rename the entire venue as the “Donald J. Trump Center for Performing Arts.”
I responded too pic.twitter.com/Ruc5iucqLf
— Raheem J. Kassam (@RaheemKassam) August 24, 2025
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