On Wednesday, the musical lineup was announced for the Great American State Fair, an event that will be held at the National Mall to mark the country’s semiquincentennial, which President Donald Trump has promoted as something of a MAGA-patriot bash. By Friday, the concert series was in disarray as nearly all of the proclaimed performers had pulled out, asserting that they’d been misled by organizers. As Washingtonian explained, “They thought they were performing at a nonpartisan celebration of the nation’s birthday — and had not been informed that Freedom 250 was an organization closely tied to Donald Trump.”As a result, “the Great American State Fair seems to be melting down, in a bizarre situation that involves dueling semiquincentennial celebrations, a congressional probe into possibly shady fundraising practices, apparently empty concert stages, and one very weird rant recorded to Instagram from the toilet.”So far, 5 of 9 artists from the original lineup have dropped out, including Martina McBride, Bret Michaels, Young MC, Morris Day & the Time, and the Commodores. According to McBride, “I was presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading.” Said Michaels, the event “has evolved into something much more divisive than what I agreed to be a part of.” Young MC claimed that “the artists were never told about any political involvement.” “It’s a no for me,” posted Morris Day, while the Commodores declared, “Our music has always been our voice and we choose not to publicly affiliate with any single political party. We support the betterment of all Americans.” The remaining artists have delivered wide-ranging responses, from silence, to neutrality, to full-throated enthusiasm, to the just plain bizarre. Trump ally Vanilla Ice says he is “super honored to do this concert.” Fab Moran, the surviving member of the infamous 80s pop group Milli Vanilli, stated, “I am here to entertain and unite people, not divide them.” Flo Rida hasn’t responded to the controversy, but he previously pulled out of a 2015 Miss USA pageant after Trump made racist remarks about Mexicans, so his participation may change.One artist, C+C Music Factory, hasn’t quit, but its frontman's unusual response to the controversy doesn’t bode well for the concert series.As Washington detailed, “In a strange, profanity-laden Instagram video that appears to have been recorded from the toilet, frontman Freedom Williams claims that his agent didn’t mention Trump when he booked the Great American State Fair concert; all Williams knew was that he’d agreed to do ‘a show in Washington,’ which seemed fine. ‘I don’t fuck with Trump,’ he said multiple times. But he also said he’d ‘vote for Genghis Khan, Hitler, or Ivan the Terrible’ or ‘do a show in North Korea pissing on an American flag’ before he let the public tell him what to do. Williams stressed that he is un-cancellable. ‘I just might do it,’ seems to be where he’s landed on the Great American State Fair.”While the United States’ 250th birthday is technically a nonpartisan event, Trump has gone out of his way to make the celebration a MAGA affair, right down to the organization putting it together. As Washingtonian notes, “The organization sponsoring the Great American State Fair is not America250, the nonpartisan entity created by Congress to administer the country’s semiquincentennial celebrations. It’s Freedom 250 (officially the ‘White House Task Force on Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday’), an organization created by President Trump, and run by a Trump appointee.”Critics allege that Freedom 250 is really just another Trump grift that provides wealthy donors presidential access. According to Washingtonian, “For one million dollars or more…donors to Freedom 250 can secure an invitation to a private reception hosted by Trump himself. As the New York Times explained earlier this year, Freedom 250 allows ‘people and companies with interests before the Trump administration’ to make ‘tax-deductible donations to gain access to, and seek favor with, a president who has maintained a keen interest in fund-raising, and a willingness to use the levers of government power to reward financial supporters.’”In response, Democratic senators launched a probe into the organization’s fundraising, writing that “Government-sponsored civic commemorations should not serve as platforms for political messaging or partisan activity, nor should they create opportunities for donors to exert influence with federal decision-makers under the guise of patriotic celebration.”
