Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that the country’s 250th birthday is a “nonpartisan event” — one day after President Trump publicly called for replacing its concert lineup with a “Make America Great Again rally.”
Host Dana Bash pushed back. “Trump called it a ‘Make America Great Again rally,'” she said. “Which is the name of his political organization.”
“Well, it is,” Burgum replied. “But that’s something I think we all can certainly understand.”
In a Saturday Truth Social post, Trump suggested scrapping the Freedom 250 concert series on the National Mall after a wave of artists pulled out.
“We should have a giant MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN RALLY, for 250, instead of having overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear, whose music is boring, and yet who do nothing but complain,” he wrote.
Among the acts that have backed out: Martina McBride, Bret Michaels, the Commodores, Morris Day, Young MC and Milli Vanilli. McBride wrote on Instagram that she had been “presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading.”
Freedom 250, the group organizing the festivities, was launched by Trump last year. The group confirmed Saturday that Trump himself will now kick off the celebration with a speech on June 24.
