The historically themed hip hop musical "Hamilton" became the center of a political firestorm earlier this week when President-elect Donald Trump and his future VP Mike Pence claimed they were disrespected by the show's cast during a performance of the hit show.
Brandon Victor Dixon, the actor who made the statement that so thoroughly offended the future President of the United States of America, appeared on CBS News this morning to defend himself. "There's nothing to apologize for," he said proudly. “The producers, the creators and the cast, we recognize that Hamilton is an inherently American story told by the definition of the American community. We are men and women of different colors creeds and orientations.”
Watch the Hamilton star's interview here.
Just in case you missed it, this was the statement said at the end of the show that set Trump off: “We, sir — we — are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights... We truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us,” Dixon said on behalf of the entire Hamilton cast and crew.
Trump responded, as usual, by with a series of angry tweets, declaring that the theater needed to be a "safe space" for people like him. Trump's followers responded by threatening to boycott the musical. Somehow, I doubt that a musical starring a largely minority cast will lose any business by angering the President who ran a campaign based on racist rhetoric and has a Vice President who is openly homophobic, but nevertheless, Trump's supporters have managed to keep the hashtag "#BoycottHamilton" trending on Twitter for most of the weekend.
Many Conservative pundits have responded to the Hamilton controversy by equating criticism of Trump with being unpatriotic. The proper response to their call to silence would be this quote from Republican president Theodore Roosevelt, on the importance of always questioning the President's character and actions: "The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
By Michael Lacerna for RAPstation.com
