‘This was not unanimous. I was muted on the call’: Kennedy Center board member says Trump name change forced through

Yesterday, Donald Trump spat on the memory of John F. Kennedy. The Kennedy Center was established as a “living memorial” to Kennedy, a legal designation that means any official name change requires congressional approval and can’t simply be voted on by the board.

But I guess the law doesn’t mean much to Trump and his cronies. One of his first actions on returning to office was to fill the Kennedy Center’s board with flunkies, and said flunkies have now said they’re officially renaming it the “Trump-Kennedy Center”.

Karoline Leavitt gushed over the news, saying:

“The highly respected Board of the Kennedy Center, some of the most successful people from all parts of the world, have just voted unanimously to rename the Kennedy Center to the Trump-Kennedy Center.”

As with most things that slither out of Leavitt’s mouth, this isn’t true. What seems to have actually happened is that, on a remote call, any attendees who opposed the renaming were put on mute by the organizer, preventing anyone from objecting. As Rep. Joyce Beattie explains:

For the record. This was not unanimous. I was muted on the call and not allowed to speak or voice my opposition to this move. Also for the record, this was not on the agenda. This was not consensus. This is censorship. https://t.co/D1zGV7xiWV pic.twitter.com/npNvSIy6sV

— Rep. Joyce Beatty (@RepBeatty) December 18, 2025

“”Be clear: I was on that call, and as I tried to push my button to voice my concern, to ask questions and certainly not to vote in support of this, I was muted. Each time I tried to speak, I was muted. Participants were not allowed to voice their concerns who were online, yet it was said at the end it was a unanimous vote.”

NOT unanimous

Jack Schlossberg, Kennedy’s grandson, has also spoken out about this, confirming that opposing microphones were muted:

Microphones were muted and the board meeting and vote NOT unanimous

I’m told Trump explicitly motivated to act by JACK FOR NEW YORK

Our campaign represents everything Trump can’t stand or defeat.

— Jack Schlossberg (@JBKSchlossberg) December 18, 2025

With the Epstein file release sometime today, the economy continuing to crater, Trump’s health visibly worsening and, frankly, his increasingly bizarre and disjointed speeches, there’s a chance we may be rid of him earlier than anticipated.

Here’s hoping this offensive snub to Kennedy’s memorial doesn’t actually and is rapidly swept under the rug as just one of those embarrassing things. If not, expect one of the first actions of the next Democratic president to be scraping the large golden “TRUMP” off the signage.