JD Vance was met with a chorus of boos last night as he and his wife Usha arrived at the Kennedy Center for a National Symphony Orchestra concert. Donald Trump’s Vice President responded to the jeering crowd with a sarcastic wave and a point, as concert-goers drowned out announcements over the tannoy ahead of the start of the performance.
The show started 25 minutes late, according to The Guardian, as the Secret Service had to complete a full security check of the venue in advance of his arrival. Richard Grenell, the interim director of the Kennedy Center who was appointed by Trump, branded the crowd “intolerant”. One audience member reportedly shouted at Mr Vance “You ruined this place”, although it could not be heard in the 36-second video from the auditorium. In the clip, a man could be heard saying to a woman in hushed tones: “JD Vance”. The woman responded: “Oh f***, s***”.
Others could be seen shaking their heads and recording the Vice President on their smartphones. Towards the end of the video, one person can be heard clapping despite the din of the boos.
Last month, President Trump replaced the chairman of the Center with himself and removed 13 members of the board of trustees. He appointed foreign policy adviser Mr Grenell as the interim leader.
“So we took over the Kennedy Center,” Mr Trump said following the changes. “We didn’t like what they were showing and various other things. We’re going to make sure that it’s good and it’s not going to be woke. There’s no more woke in this country.”
Mr Vance has drawn the ire of protesters in recent weeks. At the start of March, the 40-year-old was met with protesters lining the street in Vermont holding up pro-Ukraine placards, in the wake of the bombshell meeting in the Oval Office with Volodymyr Zelensky.
His treatment of President Zelensky was even mocked by US comedy skit show Saturday Night Live (SNL).
Recreating the Vice-President’s intervention, where he called on the Ukrainian war leader to thank the United States, the actor playing Mr Vance interrupted the actor playing Mr Zelensky by saying: “Excuse me? I’m sorry what?”
In a nod to claims that the Oval Office meeting was an “ambush” by the US President and Vice-President on Mr Zelensky, the actor added: “I’m going to jump in here, because that’s how we planned this – what happened to thank you? ‘k?”.