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A Kennedy Center board member has pushed back against the White House’s claim that members voted unanimously to rename the institution after Donald Trump.
Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty said that members on the call were muted as soon as they tried to voice opposition to renaming the John F. Kennedy Memorial for the Performing Arts to the Trump-Kennedy Center.
- Kennedy Center board member Joyce Beatty said she was muted and barred from opposing the renaming of the center after Trump during the meeting.
- The White House said the Kennedy Center board unanimously voted to rename the building after Donald Trump.
- Several JFK family members, including Jack Schlossberg and Maria Shriver, strongly condemned the renaming proposal as disrespectful.
Despite some members of the board being opposed to the move, the White House released a statement statingthatsupport was unanimous.
Joyce Beatty said she was silenced during the meeting
Image credits: Win McNamee/Getty Images
“I have just been informed that 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, because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X.
Ohio Rep. Beatty, who as a congressional leader has an automatic seat on the board, pushed back against Leavitt’s claims in her own social media post.
Sharing a video of herself filmed after the meeting, she wrote, “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.”
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/D1zGV7xiWVpic.twitter.com/npNvSIy6sV
— Rep. Joyce Beatty (@RepBeatty) December 18, 2025
In the video, Beatty, 75, continued, “I’m sitting here in my congressional office in Washington, D.C., just ending a call with the Kennedy Center, where I serve as an ex officio member.
“I am bringing this to you live today because what you may hear is that there was a unanimous vote to rename the Kennedy Center, the Trump Center.”
“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,” she added.
Image credits: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
“Clearly, the Congress has a say in this. This center, the Kennedy Center, was created by the Congress. I think it’s important for us to know that this is just another attempt to evade the law and not let the people have a say.”
Beatty was not the only lawmaker to voice concern over the move; the leader of the House Democrats, Hakeem Jeffries, said it was illegal.
“The Kennedy Center Board has no authority to actually rename the Kennedy Center in the absence of legislative action,” Jeffries told reporters.
Family members of JFK have slammed the decision
Image credits: Getty Images
JFK’s only grandson, Jack Schlossberg, who is running as a Democratic Candidate for New York’s 12th Congressional District, also slammed the move on X.
“Microphones were muted and the board meeting and vote NOT unanimous,” he wrote on X.
“I’m told Trump explicitly motivated to act by JACK FOR NEW YORK. Our campaign represents everything Trump can’t stand or defeat.”
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
Other relatives of JFK also voiced their strong opposition to the move in social media statements, including his niece, Maria Shriver, and Robert F. Kennedy’s grandson, Joe Kennedy III.
Shiver said in a lengthy post on Instagram, “It is beyond comprehension that this sitting president has sought to rename this great memorial dedicated to President Kennedy. It is beyond wild that he would think adding his name in front of President Kennedy’s name is acceptable. It is not.”
She added, “C’mon, my fellow Americans! Wake up! This is not dignified. This is not funny. This is way beneath the stature of the job. It’s downright weird.
“It’s obsessive in a weird way. Just when you think somone [sic] can’t stoop any lower, down they go…”
View this post on Instagram
In a statement, Leavitt claimed board members had voted to rename the building after Trump because Trump saved it “financially,” as well as saving its “reputation.”
In February, Trump orchestrated a sweeping leadership overhaul at the Kennedy Center, removing 18 board members—including longtime chairman David Rubenstein—and naming himself as the new chairman.
Many of those ousted had been appointed during the Biden administration.
In their place, Trump installed several political allies, notably naming Richard Grenell as interim executive director.
Before the takeover, the Kennedy Center historically maintained a bipartisan board.
Trump instigated a takeover of the Kennedy Center earlier this year
Image credits: Heather Diehl/Getty Images
He began to float the idea of renaming the center after him in recent months, writing on Truth Social in August, “GREAT Nominees for the TRUMP/KENNEDY CENTER, whoops, I mean, KENNEDY CENTER, AWARDS.”
Then at an event at the Institute of Peace earlier this month, he said, “You have a big event on Friday at the Trump Kennedy Center,” adding, “Oh, excuse me, at the Kennedy Center.”
The Kennedy Center was named by an act of Congress in 1964 in tribute to the late Democratic president, who was assassinated in 1963.
Despite the White House statement claiming the Center is being renamed after Trump, it remains unclear what authority the president would have to make such a change on his own.
Image credits: Donald J Trump
Senior Democrats who are ex officio board members, including Jeffries and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, said in a joint statement that it was illegal.
“Federal law established the Center as a memorial to President Kennedy and prohibits changing its name without Congressional action,” they said.
“At today’s meeting, a sitting Member of Congress was muted, and participants were prevented from speaking—actions that reflect a troubling lack of transparency and respect for the rule of law.
“This whole process displays the corruption that permeates the entire Trump Administration, and as ex-officio members of the Kennedy Center Board, we will be unwavering in our commitment to holding this Administration accountable.”
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