JD Vance, the US vice-president, was booed by the audience as he took his seat at a National Symphony Orchestra concert at Washington’s Kennedy Center on Thursday evening.
As the normal pre-concert announcements got under way, the vice-presidential party filed into the box tier. Booing and jeering erupted in the hall, drowning out the announcements, as Vance and his wife, Usha, took their seats.
Such a vocal, impassioned political protest was a highly unusual event in the normally polite and restrained world of classical music.
Vance ironically acknowledged the yelling and shouts of “You ruined this place!” with a smile and a wave.
JD Vance was loudly booed at a National Symphony Orchestra concert in Washington, delaying the start by 25 minutes due to security checks.
The backlash follows Trump’s hostile takeover of the Kennedy Center, where he appointed Vance’s wife, Usha, to the board and removed trustees.
Resistance to the changes has grown, with artists canceling performances and protests over cuts to LGBTQ+ programming.
Vance, a vocal cultural conservative, has criticized “woke” influences in the arts, while Trump vowed to eliminate “anti-American propaganda” from the institution.