U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Representative Robert Garcia assembled the forum called “Monumental Waste: How Donald Trump Is Spending Millions Destroying American Landmarks” to hear testimony on President Trump’s government spending on vanity projects in the capital. These projects include the White House ballroom, the Triumphal Arch, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and the renaming of the Kennedy Center. Singer-songwriter and former residency holder at the Kennedy Center Ben Folds is set to testify at the public congressional forum today.
The forum will examine Trump’s alleged wasteful spending and corruption, as well as his alleged attempts to use American taxpayer dollars to “leave an indelible imprint on our nation’s capital,” as stated in a press release.
This isn’t the first time Folds has weighed in on Trump-related matters. He was once the artistic advisor for the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), which has its primary performing venue at the Kennedy Center. However, after Trump fired the former president Deborah F. Ritter, installed Ric Grenell as interim president and made himself the Chairman of the Board, Folds stepped down from his position early last year. Earlier this year, in June, he shared an open letter in which he described the reason for his resignation. In it, he describes how he did not want to be associated with the “newly politicized Kennedy Center” and risk being used as a “political pawn” by either political party.
Photo Credit: Sharon Alagna
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