The Kennedy Center’s Trump-appointed interim President Richard Grenell suddenly cared about diversity and inclusion when it comes to cisgender, heterosexual white male Republicans not feeling welcome somewhere.

After Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife Usha were booed by the crowd while attending an event at the Kennedy Center, Grenell reportedly emailed the staff at the Washington D.C. performing arts venue to express his anger about the situation.

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“I received several messages from Kennedy Center staffers sharing their embarrassment over more than a few Symphony patrons loudly booing the Vice President and his wife last night,” he wrote.

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“As the premier arts organization in the United States of America, we must work to make the Kennedy Center a place where everyone is welcomed. We clearly have work to do. And I hear your outrage,” he added.

He went on to suggest the audience did not follow good diversity and inclusion practices by booing the vice president.

“I take diversity and inclusion very seriously,” he said. “I have met with many of you, and I love that we are Christian, Muslim, Jewish, agnostic, gay, straight, Black, white, Hispanic, and absolutely different.”

“Intolerance towards people who are politically different is just as unacceptable as intolerance in other areas. Everyone is welcome at the Kennedy Center,” he wrote.

On X, Grenell posted a video of Vance being booed and wrote it “should challenge us all to commit to making the Kennedy Center a place where everyone is welcomed.”

“It troubles me to see that so many in the audience appear to be white and intolerant of diverse political views,” he said. “Diversity is our strength. We must do better. We must welcome EVERYONE. We will not allow the Kennedy Center to be an intolerant place.”

Grenell became the first out gay U.S. cabinet official when he served as acting director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term. After Donald Trump announced he would fire members of the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees and install himself as chairman – citing the center’s recent drag programming – he named Grenell as the board’s interim head. Grenell is also serving in the newly created role of “Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions,” a diplomatic position meant to assist with challenging foreign policy matters. 

Grenell’s support for inclusion does not seem to extend to marginalized groups. After Trump took over, the Kennedy Center began quietly canceling LGBTQ+ programming, including a planned Pride performance by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington DC and a touring production of Finn, a children’s musical commissioned by the center about a shark who “wants to let out his inner fish.”

The Trump administration is also in the midst of a wider attack on DEI programs across the country. Through executive orders, Trump has ordered the purge of these programs from the federal government and has threatened all institutions with government contracts to get rid of their DEI programs, too.

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