Another day, another person having another unhinged hissy fit towards POTUS Donald Trump. Writer David Eggers (I had to look him up. That’s not a criticism, just writes stuff I don’t care about. Does that make me combative towards reading? Regardless, he’s won a bunch of awards, and, unsurprising, been a rather left leaning person) is given a platform in the NY Times to be silly. This is the lead opinion piece on the Times’ front page this morning
A Cultural Vacuum in Trump’s White House
Never have we had a president not just indifferent to the arts, but also combative toward artists.
This White House has been, and is likely to remain, home to the first presidency in American history that is almost completely devoid of culture. In the 17 months that Donald Trump has been in office, he has hosted only a few artists of any kind. One was the gun fetishist Ted Nugent. Another was Kid Rock. They went together (and with Sarah Palin). Neither performed.
Since his inauguration in January 2017, there have been no official concerts at the White House (the Reagans had one every few weeks). No poetry readings (the Obamas regularly celebrated young poets). The Carters began a televised series, “In Performance at the White House,†which last aired in 2016, where artists as varied as Mikhail Baryshnikov and Patricia McBride performed in the East Room. The Clintons continued the series with Aretha Franklin and B. B. King, Alison Krauss and Linda Ronstadt.
But aside from occasional performances by “The President’s Own†United States Marine Band, the White House is now virtually free of music. Never have we had a president not just indifferent to the arts, but actively oppositional to artists. Mr. Trump disparaged the play “Hamilton†and a few weeks later attacked Meryl Streep. He has said he does not have time to read books (“I read passages, I read areas, I read chaptersâ€). Outside of recommending books by his acolytes, Mr. Trump has tweeted about only one work of literature since the beginning of his presidency: Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury.†It was not an endorsement.
Let me ask: do you read? I read about 2-3 books a week. I love reading. Many people don’t. Does that make them combative and oppositional to artists? If you don’t read, does that make you combative and oppositional? I don’t care for poetry. Never have. That doesn’t make me C&O to artists. I don’t go to art showings and such, though I have gone to a few art buildings (the one in D.C. with all the Monet’s is incredible). I haven’t been to a play (the last one was Spamalot on Broadway) in a decade. It’s been awhile since I saw a concert. Does that make me C&O? No.
But, we’re in the world of Trump Derangement Syndrome where everything is The Worst. Eggers has no clue as to what Trump does in his time off, other than some golf. Does Trump have to inform Eggers as to everything he does and likes? Perhaps Trump is a Level 10 Type A who is either working or sleeping. At least Eggers isn’t calling Trump Hitler or a dictator or something
Every great civilization has fostered great art, while authoritarian regimes customarily see artists as either nuisances, enemies of the state or tools for the creation of propaganda. The Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev asserted that “the highest duty of the Soviet writer, artist and composer, of every creative worker†is to “fight for the triumph of the ideas of Marxism-Leninism.â€
