By Philip Rucker:
As he took his seat in New York’s Richard Rogers Theatre, Pence heard an impassioned, sustained boo. He sat through a performance celebrating the country’s multiculturalism. And when the show was over and he headed for the exits, the cast was not quite finished.
“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, sir,” said Brandon Victor Dixon, the actor who played Aaron Burr, reading a statement the cast members had drafted together.
“But we truly hope this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and work on behalf of all of us. All of us,” he continued.
The remarkable moment crystallized the cleavage wrought by a toxic presidential campaign, in which millions of aggrieved white Americans propelled Donald Trump and Pence to the White House and left millions of others — blacks and Latinos, gays and lesbians, Muslims and Jews — fearful of what might become of their country.
“It was this collision of two different Americas and two different visions and two different sets of experiences, happening at once, and happening in a rather dramatic way,” said Peter Wehner, a former speechwriter to President George W. Bush and a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
By Saturday morning, Trump decided to respond. He could have chosen to offer assurances that he would be a president for all Americans — that he would respect everybody regardless of race or gender or creed.
But Trump being Trump, the president-elect punched back.
“The Theater must always be a safe and special place,” Trump tweeted. “The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!”
There was a certain irony to Trump’s demand, considering that as a candidate he rarely if ever apologized for the blizzard of insults he sprayed across the country.
The Full Story (November 19, 2016)
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