The story you are about to read is true. The name was removed to protect the innocent.
But the removal of Donald Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center was done under cover, in the dead of night, so as not to be captured in photographs or observed by cheering onlookers.
Workers spent most of Friday erecting a massive scaffolding in front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, with the sole purpose of removing the name of Donald J. Trump as ordered by a DC district judge. Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee, handed down a deadline of midnight.
A watch party gathered, some chanting, “Take it down.”
As the midnight deadline passed, workers began draping a massive tarp from the scaffolding, which was completed approximately an hour later at 1:00am.
Two hours later, workers began removing the letters. At 3:30am, workers left the site, but the tarp remained.
Trump’s name has been removed from the building, but on Saturday morning Judge Cooper formally ordered the Kennedy Center to finish the job and has until noon Saturday to certify their compliance with the order.
Listen to audio transcript
00:00
/
01:04