Tyler Fransen
If, by now, you haven’t heard about the “Hamilton” musical situation that occurred with Vice President-elect Mike Pence, here’s a quick recap.
“Hamilton: An American Musical,” is a hip-hop Broadway musical about the life of America’s first secretary of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton. The smash hit on Broadway recently had a special guest attend one of its performances, Pence.
At the performance, the crowd in attendance picked up on the murmurs of their special guest and responded with a mix of boos and cheers.
The cast, meanwhile, took notice and addressed Pence at the end of the performance. Brandon Victor Dixon, the actor who played Aaron Burr, welcomed Pence to the show and said, “We hope you will hear us out,” adding, “We, sir we, are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights.” Dixon later said, “We truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us.”
Pence responded to the incident saying he was not offended by it and told his kids standing next to him while the crowd booed, “That’s what freedom sounds like.”
So Pence overall didn’t take the comments too harshly, and the speech itself was just a plea of a concerned American citizen, who happened to be in the presence of a prominent figure while he held a literal stage. All in all, it should have been just one of several little “oh that’s interesting” moments in the 2016 election, which made the water coolers but got no further than that.
Enter, President-elect Donald Trump. Trump was in the midst of criticism for a series of controversial cabinet positions he’s appointing and it just so happens that the VP-elect was heading out to see a Broadway show. When word got to Trump about the post-show speech to Pence, Trump took what should have been a moment to hear criticism and try to reach out to people who disagreed with him, and turned it into the biggest political scandal of 2016.
“Apologize,” he said, “The theatre should always be a safe place,” he said. His supporters ate it up and began spreading the hashtag, “#BoycottHamilton,” all over Twitter and Facebook.
Thus, we are here today, ever more confused as to how Trump not only became president but how he, as president, is going to handle any criticism or situation involving his administration. Because for one thing, this entire story could literally have blown over in a matter of days, maybe even hours, if Trump had either said nothing at all, or something to the effect of, “I hear the concerns of the cast of ‘Hamilton,’ we will do our best to uphold American’s rights and unify the country,” blah blah blah blah blah.
Instead, Trump made claims that Pence, who again was not offended by it, was harassed and that the cast needed to apologize. Trump treated this as if it was a heinous crime perpetrated by the cast of “Hamilton,” and the victim’s name was Pence.
But this whole mess is just a ruse. You see, Trump has appointed several members to his cabinet that are less than ideal for the jobs they’ve been hired to do. For example, there’s former Breitbart editor Steve Bannon, a man who has been accused of anti-Semitism, for his chief strategist. Jeff Sessions, a man who has been accused of racism, for attorney general, and is possibly vetting Sarah Palin for veterans affairs and Rudy Giuliani for secretary of state.
So, when the media is about to call out Trump for his picks that might pose some problems, what does Trump do? Bash the cast of “Hamilton” for their non-rant, rant against Pence. Do you believe it’s any coincidence that right after Sessions’ nomination for attorney general, Trump tirades about a non-issue, to distract the media from his cabinet appointments? And shame on the media for not picking up on the fact that it was a distraction from the real issue, which is that Trump is appointing members to his cabinet that need scrutiny from the fourth estate.
And just to add insult to injury, Trump’s supporters who wanted to boycott “Hamilton,” good luck. There’s already a waiting list for over a year maybe even two years, for people just to get tickets. Though, good luck with that boycott of yours, and when you realize your efforts are in vain because of how popular the show is and how you probably weren’t going to buy tickets anyhow, I would highly recommend it. I haven’t seen it, but the soundtrack is amazing.
