The liberal-leaning comedian and commentator is siding with Freedom 250 on this one.
You’ve likely heard that the Great American State Fair isn’t having great luck when it comes to retaining performers. The national exposition is set to bring together all 50 states for a World’s Fair type of celebration that included exhibits, innovation showcases, cultural programming, and live performances.
It’s set to get started later this month (June 25 to be exact) and run through July 10 on the National Mall, and it’s all to celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States of America. In late May, Freedom 250 announced the first round of headliners who will be performing at the celebration, and the originally announced headliners included Martina McBride, C+C Music Factory, The Commodores, Vanilla Ice, Young MC, Morris Day and The Time, Flo Rida, Bret Michaels, and Milli Vanilli.
The music festival has since been canceled because so many artists dropped out.
Once country music star Martina McBride backed out of the event, things really took a turn for the Freedom 250 concert series. After facing backlash from fans who claimed that the “Independence Day” singer was supporting Donald Trump if she played at the event, the artist put out this statement saying she was removing herself from the lineup:
“I would like to talk to you and clear the air. I will not be performing at the Great American State Fair on June 25th. I was presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading. I asked lots of questions and was assured this was a nonpartisan event that was meant to celebrate ALL 50 states and also bring people together in a way that only music can.
I saw it as just a bigger version of so many state fairs I have performed at over the years, celebrating community and what makes each state special. Sounds fun, right? Wholesome even. Yesterday, things started changing and what we were told is, in fact, not what is happening. I’ve spent my entire career singing songs about real people with real issues.
I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to be a voice for those who have felt like they didn’t have one. It greatly upsets me that any fan who has been moved by my music may now feel like I’m abandoning the meaning behind those songs. I assure you, that is not the case. I appreciate every single fan who has reached out. I hope to get back to the DC area very soon.”
Many other artists followed suit, and eventually, Freedom 250 was scrapped altogether and replaced with a rally of sorts on the national mall which will include Lee Greenwood.
Bill Maher, who would normally be in favor of artists pulling out of an event that had become intertwined with Trump, said on his Real Time with Bill Maher show last Friday that everyone that withdrew from Freedom 250 should be ashamed of themselves:
“They all pulled out… This is a question about what looks best for the Democrats, because I don’t think that looks good. It looks like you are just what people say about you – you don’t really love America. It looks (like) you think Trump is more important than the country itself.”
And he went on to say that, by most of the artists refusing to play, it actually made the situation worse in his eyes. Performers like McBride could have used the opportunity to bring people together, regardless of what they were told was happening at the Great American State Fair, and Maher let them have it:
“Now it’s just a big MAGA rally, this whole thing. Now it’s just Trump and Lee Greenwood. Wouldn’t it have been better to play this gig? It’s a month-long gig, lots of people, like, just celebrating America. Can’t we all just celebrate America itself and leave Trump out of it?”
Does Bill Maher, a well known liberal who traditionally bucks against President Trump, have a point there?
Many are applauding the liberal commentator’s stance, but it’s important to note that in the very show that he shared those views, his guest – Democratic Senator Chris Murphy – stated that the event could have very easily been celebratory instead of political, and that it was Trump who made it controversial:
“There was a nonpartisan, apolitical effort to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. And instead of just letting that effort go forward, Donald Trump took it over, right, to create a parallel set of events. My understanding is these artists thought that they were going to the nonpartisan effort. And then when they found out it was just a predicate to a Trump rally, they didn’t want to be part of it.
I think this would have been a lot better for the country if Trump had decided to just let professionals, let people who just care about celebrating America with no political agenda be part of this. I agree there’s no reason to overly politicize this, but Trump decided to politicize it by essentially shutting down the citizens who were leading it and turning it into a big MAGA event.”
And now… there’s no Freedom 250 concert series at all. The Great American State Fair is still rolling on, but it’s without all of the artists that originally joined on to help celebrate the momentous occasion for the United States of America.
