President Donald Trump announced that he, “the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World,” will replace multiple performers who bailed on the Freedom 250 concert series.
“I understand Artists are getting ‘the yips’ having to do with their performance on Wednesday, so I am thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP, to take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate ‘Artists,’ and give a major speech, rallying the Country forward like I have done ever since being President!” he wrote Saturday on Truth Social.
Trump’s announcement comes after a majority of musical acts dropped out of the Great American State Fair, an event celebrating America’s 250th anniversary. The event is organized by a group established through a presidential order.
Only a few slated performers remain. Those who have withdrawn include country superstar Martina McBride, who said she was “presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading.”
Young MC, who was also scheduled to perform, claimed online that the “artists were never told about any political involvement with the event.”
Trump told followers, “I don’t want so-called ‘Artists’ that get paid far too much money, who aren’t happy.”
“I only want to be surrounded by Happy People, Smart People, Successful People, and People that know how to WIN,” the president wrote. “So, by copy of this TRUTH, I am ordering my Representatives to look at the feasibility of doing an AMERICA IS BACK Rally on Wednesday, Washington, D.C., same time, same location.”
Trump’s announcement was met with ridicule and criticism, even from diehard conservative Matt Walsh, who told followers on X that “replacing a concert with a speech is lame and boring.”
“Just go out and get real musicians to play. Don’t cancel the concert just because a bunch of washed-up old has-beens canceled,” Walsh argued. “There are hundreds of artists out there who might not be famous but would absolutely leap at the chance to play on a stage like this.”
CNN anchor Jake Tapper said he did not believe the announcement was real at first.
“Either way, the artists pulling out say this isn’t about the ‘yips,’ they say it’s about the perception that the festivity is partisan in nature. Not sure this post will dispel that concern,” Tapper wrote.
Former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan mocked the announcement as “Beyond. Parody.”
And conservative attorney and vocal Trump critic George Conway quipped, “nah he’s not a pathological narcissist—couldn’t possibly be,” followed by two laughing-crying emojis.