“I understand that artists are suffering from the yips related to performance,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social Saturday.Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images
The Great American State Fair, which commemorates the 250th anniversary of the United States, recently had several musical guests decline to participate, in part because of their ties to President Donald Trump. Now, Trump himself will headline the gala, organizers announced Saturday.
“I understand that artists have the ‘yips’ associated with performance,” Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social on Saturday, adding: “I’m considering replacing these highly paid, third-rate ‘artists’ with Donald J. Trump, the man some say is the greatest president (goat!) in history.” ”
The organization organizing the fair in June at Freedom 250 on the National Mall in Washington confirmed the claim in a statement, writing: “We are thrilled to announce that President Trump will personally kick off this historic celebration on Wednesday, June 24th.”
Trump’s social media posts twice referred to holding a rally on “Wednesday” without specifying a specific date. The White House did not immediately clarify the discrepancy.
Freedom 250 spokesperson Daniel Alvarez stressed that the extensive fair, scheduled for June 25 to July 10, will include a variety of exhibits, family-friendly attractions, musical performances, flyovers and more.
Trump denied rescinding the move and suggested in a follow-up post that the solution was to “stop.”
“Instead of hiring singers who are overpriced, nobody wants to listen to it, the music is boring, and they complain all the time, we should have a giant ‘Make America Great Again’ rally of 250 people,” Trump said on social media.
Freedom 250, which bills itself as nonpartisan, was launched by Trump last year and is led by a former State Department appointee during Trump’s first term. Several artists left last week, including Bret Michaels, The Commodores and Martina McBride.
Mr. Michaels and other artists said they were wary of being misunderstood about the show’s themes or getting drawn into political controversy. “I was given the opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event, which turned out to be misleading,” McBride said in a statement on Instagram.
Other artists expected to participate include Flo Rida, Milli Vanilli’s Fab Morvan and Vanilla Ice. A rep for the latter previously said the Ice Ice Baby rapper was “proud to be helping celebrate America’s 250th anniversary.”
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